Khama to occupy Masire�s retirement home
Staff Writer | Wednesday August 16, 2017 16:28
“This will save Government the expense of constructing a new facility. Under the current Pensions and Retirement Benefits Act, former presidents are entitled to an official residence and office space provided by the state,” a statement from Office of the President (OP) reads.
Government spokesperson, Jeff Ramsay stated yesterday that the residence is currently undergoing refurbishment, a project that commenced last year that forced the late former President to move to a guesthouse in the city.
“The refurbishment was being done for the former President to live in a comfortable home, so it was just a coincidence that he passed on and the President will move in to the residence,” said Ramsay.
President Khama’s move to the residence will make him one of the longest residents of Extension 5, where he lived as a young boy during the pre-Independence era when his father, the late Sir Seretse Khama arrived in Gaborone and subsequently became the founding President of a newly independent Botswana.
Masire occupied the residence upon retirement in 1998 and it served as both residence and office space.