Dalai Dilemma: Khama unmoved after two-hour plea

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President Ian Khama recently emerged unfazed after a two-hour meeting with local Chinese Embassy officials who pleaded with him to reverse government’s contentious decision to welcome the Dalai Lama, parliament heard this afternoon.

International Affairs and Cooperation minister, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi said Chinese officials had also held one-on-one meetings with Members of Parliament and traditional leaders, including Bangwato regent, Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane in Serowe. 

Local Chinese officials and their superiors in Beijing are scrambling to stop Botswana from opening its doors to the Dalai Lama, a spiritual leader from the Tibet region of China. 

Editor's Comment
Gov’t must rectify recognition of Khama as Kgosi

While it is widely acknowledged that Khama holds the title of Kgosi, the government’s failure to properly gazette his recognition has raised serious concerns about adherence to legal procedures and the credibility of traditional leadership. (See a story elsewhere in this newspaper.) Recent court documents by the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse, shed light on the intricacies of Khama’s recognition process....

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