'Yes, I fired him'
Staff Writer | Friday October 12, 2018 14:01
Responding to a question from one of the attendants after his lecture at Oxford University on Wednesday night, Masisi confidently confirmed that he indeed fired Kgosi but he did not expressly state the reasons why he did it.
“Yes I can confirm. I did fire the Director General of the Intelligence Agency, for good reasons,” he said.
Masisi also added that he knew Kgosi’s firing was not expected, but it was in line with good governance.
He said, “It was really out of my interpretations of what improved governance meant. So I asked him to leave immediately. And I guess it was not expected, many people did not think so. Many people perceived him as extremely powerful and intimidating. Not for me. I asked him to go. He is gone”.
Masisi interestingly stressed the departure of Kgosi finishing with, “He is gone”. The President also attempted to demonstrate to his small crowd of academia why his decisions are different from his predecessor even though as his vice president, he supported Ian Khama’s policies and decisions.
Masisi argued that the role of a president is different from that of a vice president and he only decided his “redirection” after consultative process with his Cabinet at his Cabinet Retreat that he hosted after attaining power.
The firing of Kgosi is believed to have destroyed all of Khama’s retirement plans as he was a long time Khama ally whom the former president was, through Kgosi, expecting to have tabs on the new administration.
Masisi was adamant to unplug Kgosi out of the civil service as he even went on to refuse Khama’s request to have Kgosi appointed Khama’s private secretary at the office of the former president.
Masisi’s decision upset Khama that the former president finally spoke out saying he will seek a legal assistance to contest it.