He likens Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço to former President Mokgweetsi Masisi stating that they are amongst those giving Africa a bad name. According to Platform for African Democrats (PAD), several delegates were refused visas for technical reasons, including those from Uganda. Twelve delegates who either had visas or were eligible for visas on arrival- were held at the airport and deported before being allowed to enter, including guests from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Sudan. Khama had to return to Botswana without attending the PAD – a gathering of African leaders committed to democracy and accountability. He alongside former prime minister of Lesotho, Moeketsi Majoro, former president of Colombia, Andres Pastrana Arango and First Vice President of Zanzibar Othman Shariff and 24 others were detained at the airport for as long as nine hours with no explanation. Their passports were returned and they were released when it was too late for them to make the scheduled flight to Bengula. Khama said trouble started when they realised there were no protocol officers to welcome them and then made to wait for hours without any explanation.
Khama said he had reached out to the Angolan Foreign minister whom he had kept his number after he came to invite him to Luanda to meet with Masisi whilst he was still in exile in South Africa. “I sent him a message that we were detained without an explanation. There was no immediate response and I found blue ticks after 45 minutes. It still took some time and we were moved to a lounge in the airport where they told me they would deport me. But I pleaded that I would deport myself the following morning. "And I feel quite strongly about that issue, how I was treated. Protocol has been violated blatantly. Human rights have been violated and I do not know to what extent the conference was able to take place and be a success,” he said. Khama said he was then taken to a hotel provided by the government but those who accompanied him had to share a room because no accommodation was provided for them. He said he would head home the following morning.
