Review: Mogae Addresses Botswana and The World :: Mmegi Online

In his seminal work, Republic, the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato makes a passionate argument about the necessity for leaders to be intelligent, wise and educated. He calls that kind of leader ‘Philosopher king’, a notion which his own former teacher, Socrates subscribed to.

Plato argues that kings should become philosophers or that philosophers should become kings, as they possess a special level of knowledge to rule the Republic successfully. He says justice is a virtue, as is knowledge, which requires understanding. The philosopher kings, according to Plato have virtue as they possess knowledge, and hence their rule is justified.

To the extent that Plato believed that a leader must be educated, knowledgeable and wise, in the case of Botswana, perhaps the nearest example of a leader who fits the description of a philosopher-king, in a tongue-in-cheek way, is the third president of the republic, Festus Gontebanye Mogae. Better still, the former president fits the mould posited by Plato’s student, Aristotle, who profoundly tempered the concept of philosopher-king.