De Beers have admitted that they gave financial assistance under questionable circumstances to Masire while he was still in office and are also said to have funded a Consultancy Research that was ultimately credited with assisting the Botswana Democratic Party(BDP) retain power in the 1999 elections.
Speaking to Business Week in Gaborone this week, De Beers group executive director in charge of Marketing, Communications and the Forevermark said although they could have acted with more transparency on the issue they do not regret bailing the cash strapped former president or funding the research as they were trying to protect their interest in the country. " The Botswana government has over the years created an environment which is easy for us to operate in, in terms of the rule of rule and democracy and this is why we have been supportive of the government," he said. Asked to comment on the fact that such donations to a single ruling party or individual distort the democratic process, Lussier admitted that, in the future De Beers will look at how it can support the whole democratic process and not just one party. " Its not unnatural for one company to support the views of one political party, but I suppose, as we have already put in place a transparency policy in 2007, going forward we should look at ways of supporting the democratic process and not one political party. "However I cannot say what was the view 25 years ago when this incident took place. Things were not so transparent back then," he said.
