Khama snubs Masisi at Serowe kgotla
Thalefang Charles | Wednesday October 17, 2018 12:03
The office of the former president has confirmed that Khama will not attend the President’s meeting.
Khama’s private secretary, Mabedi Letsholo said on the phone, “The former HE will be having some private engagements on that day [Thursday] and will not be present at the [President Masisi’s] meeting”.
Interestingly, this may be taken as a snub towards Masisi where Khama will instead be meeting up with Serowe dikgosi on Friday at the Bangwato main kgotla just a day after Masisi’s kgotla meeting.
Khama’s office has, however, said the Friday meeting with dikgosi will not be open to the public.
Serowe kgotla is where Khama held his final presidential farewell meeting that brought the then vice president Masisi into audience with multitudes of Bangwato who were told in a packed meeting that he is to be trust as Khama’s choice for next president.
“I choose him because he is a very intelligent person. He has extensive experience and knowledge on government systems, politics, culture and also understands Batswana very well. He has never disappointed me, not even once. And I am sure he will never disappoint me when he becomes president and you either,” Khama said in March to the ululation of Bangwato.
A week after singing Masisi’s praises, Khama’s relations with his successor broke down and further deteriorated to ‘no-talking’ terms since Masisi’s April inauguration.
Khama has said, in his surprise various interviews that he gave the private media that since April 1, he and Masisi have “never properly met”.
The only recent image of them two together following the six months since Masisi’s inauguration is a gloomy looking and blurry picture of the two in London last week in the peripheries of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Summit.
The bone of contention between the successive leaders has been Masisi’s decisions to turn down Khama’s request to have the former Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) chief, Isaac Kgosi appointed as his senior private secretary and to deny Khama access to state air transport.
President Masisi fired Kgosi from the DIS in May hardly four weeks since ascending presidency.