Inside Khama-Masisi agreement
Thalefang Charles | Friday November 9, 2018 10:14
Many commentators have posited that the two men had a private gentlemen’s agreement before the former stepped down.
Analysts are saying that Masisi has possibly betrayed his predecessor, hence the rift.
The Masisi–Khama impasse has even made it into the State of the Nation Address (SONA) where the President finally admitted that, “transition from the previous administration has not been as smooth as expected”.
This week, Khama revealed that there was actually an agreement, but it was only about administrative staff at the office of the former president.
“The only kind of agreement we would have had, could have been on administrative matters, like this one of the staff, which is there in their files in writing,” said Khama.
Khama further said that the agreement was not on how Masisi should run the country or programmes and policies he should do.
“That would have been quite unreasonable of me to have tried to tie him to this, that or the other because having been president myself, I would not have expected my predecessor to have also tried to impose on me his will to do with programmes or policies,” Khama said.
The former president, however, said he had expected Masisi to continue his old policies because he was part of them.
“Maybe one had an expectation that having been in the same administration and him particularly being my vice president, and having given me his full support throughout that period that some of the actions that he took in terms of programmes and policies did surprise me,” Khama said.
He mentioned the reduction of the alcohol levy and review of the hunting ban as some of the decision he least expected from Masisi’s administration. Khama says although he accepted that every leader has to chart his path, he fails to understand why the people that he worked with would for so long suddenly after his departure change things they voted for.
“I am just surprised, but there is absolutely nothing I can or want to do about it. I am surprised why those issues were not raised with me at that time,” the former president said.
Masisi had disclosed that his administration’s new programmes, which are seen as reversing Khama’s policies, like reviews of the hunting ban and alcohol levy, were a result of his Cabinet Retreat that held at a place called Manong just after his inauguration.