‘Under-appreciating’ Masire’s efforts
Barry Morton | Monday June 30, 2025 06:00
In April 2017, I went to Gaborone and sat for numerous hours with Sir Ketumile upstairs at his residence. The very first day we met, he outlined, in very direct language, exactly what he wanted the book to be about. He was particularly adamant about addressing misinformation about the early years of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), and also in discussing strategic and organisational mistakes that the modern BDP had been making since he left office. I assured him that I would give him what he wanted. His opinions, I found, were judicious, factually correct, and justifiable in needing to be heard. After a month I returned to America, where I had to move with my family to a new residence. During this time, Sir Ketumile passed away, with the project still in its early stages.
Nevertheless, I now had a contract with the Sir Ketumile Masire Foundation to produce a manuscript—the contract clearly stated that I would be paid to write the manuscript and that the Masire Foundation would be responsible for publishing it. I returned to Gaborone later in 2017 to continue my work. During this time, I interviewed numerous contemporaries of Sir Ketumile who had worked with him in various capacities at Domkrag and the government. These included DK, PHK, Mogae, Dada, Morake, and Chiepe, to name but a few. One half of the book dealt with Sir Ketumile’s peacekeeping efforts in Rwanda and the Congo from 1999-2003. Sir Ketumile maintained that his efforts at this time had been underappreciated due to the discretion he exercised in his diplomacy. I was able to contact and interview most of the members of his team (such as Ten Ten Makgonatsotlhe) as well as others in Europe and North America) in order to gain information about his efforts. Additionally, I spent a busy week in Kenya in 2018 where most of the records of his team were located.
After this I spent more time in Gaborone in mid-2018 doing follow-up interviews and obtaining some extra details I needed. The manuscript was being written during this time and was vetted by Sir Ketumile’s former Secretary, who did not demand many changes. It was essentially completed in early December 2018, and my contract was paid in full. Once I had completed the project, the Masires did very little. They provided no details relating to the publication and were slow to respond to emails. By this time I had developed suspicions that they did not intend to publish since the remaining Mo Ibrahim funds still sat in their accounts. Based on my experience dealing with publishers over the years, things were not proceeding in any way that I considered typical. Eventually, in May 2021, after a long period of delay, Ambassador Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba informed me that the Masire Foundation wished to publish the book in 2025—which is Sir Ketumile’s Centenary year. However, there was little that I could do, given that the Masire Foundation controlled the copyright to the manuscript.
Several years later, it became obvious that the book was not coming out for the Masire Centenary. I made inquiries through several individuals who were friendly with the various Masire children, and what these people were told was that the publication funds had been used for alternative purposes. The fact that the Masire Foundation has been struggling to stay afloat may well have been the decisive factor—but only the Masires themselves can answer the question as to where the funds went. Once I ascertained for sure that the book would never come out and that the funding for it had vanished, I asked the Botswana Society to make an attempt to obtain the copyright and to publish the book in 2025. Rahim Khan, Masire’s personal lawyer and also a board member of the Masire Foundation, tried to engineer the transfer of the copyright.
Unfortunately, the Masire children have refused to cooperate, and nor have they provided any reasons for their intransigence. Speaking as someone who spent about two years working on Sir Ketumile’s behalf, I find the current situation to be discouraging and lamentable. First, Sir Ketumile was, and was known as, a clean politician who worked for the good of his country and refused to line his own pockets in the process. He was hard-working and honest, and apart from a couple of questionable instances involving former Debswana boss, Louis Nchindo, he was incorruptible. This was why he was awarded grants from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which aims to promote good governance in Africa. So for the Masire Foundation not to use its funding from Mo Ibrahim for the purposes it was intended for, is reprehensible.
Second, it is equally reprehensible for the Masire children to not honour their late father’s wishes and have his final statement published. Whereas their father worked tirelessly for about four decades promoting the public interest, whether through Domkrag, the government, or through international peacekeeping efforts, the children are uninterested. Maybe they wish to step out from underneath their father’s enormous shadow. But by deciding not to promote an understanding of their father’s legacy, they are doing him and themselves a serious injustice.