allAfrica.com: Botswana: Leader Little Known to His People (Page 1 of 1)

Lt-General Ian Khama took over as Botswana's fourth president on Tuesday, with his people still not sure of what kind of person he is.

Though Mr Khama has been in public life since 1977, when he reputedly became the youngest brigadier at 24, he remains an enigma. His people cannot place him because he rarely talks or responds to critics.

But who is Ian Khama and what does his leadership portend for the country? The new Botswana president is the son of the country's respected founding president, Sir Seretse Khama.

Lt-Gen Khama, 55, is a bachelor and teetotaler. Mr Khama's education is sketchy, and emphasis has been put mainly on his military training at Britain's famous Sandhurst Academy (he insists on being be referred to as Lt-Gen).

When he became deputy commander of Botswana's new army in 1977, his boss was Lt-General Mompati Merafhe, a policeman-turned-soldier-turned-politician. Lt-Gen Merafhe who has been Botswana's long-serving Foreign Minister, was appointed Vice-President by Mr Khama on Tuesday.

The future President took over command of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) in 1989 when Merafhe retired to join elective politics.

In 1998, Lt-Gen Khama was plucked from the military by his political mentor and predecessor, Festus Mogae, and appointed vice-president. Then - and perhaps now - Lt-Gen Khama was seen as "the messiah" who would save the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) from incessant infighting and an imminent rout at the 1999 general elections.

In the 1994 elections, the perennially poorly-performing main opposition party, the Botswana National Front (BNF), had caused a major shock by winning 13 of the 40 elective seats. As the 1999 general elections approached, a divided BDP was facing with the possibility of losing power for the first time since independence in 1966.

The party went looking for a political strategist and came up with South African Lawrence Schlemmer who, among other things, recommended that the old guard give way to younger blood, and that a popular figure be found to unify BDP.

That was how Sir Ketumile Masire left the presidency for his deputy, Festus Mogae, who sought a political messiah"in Lt-Gen Khama to end factionalism in the BDP. Lt-Gen Khama was attractive to the BDP because of the family name, and the fact that he is a paramount chief of the influential Bangwato.

His late father is still revered in Botswana, while the traditional hereditary chieftainship carries a lot of weight and attracts praise, unquestioning loyalty and authority. The younger Khama was appointed vice-president and entered Parliament when his MP, Roy Blackbeard of Serowe North (now Serowe Northwest), resigned and was appointed Botswana's High Commissioner to Britain.

Besides the vice-presidency, the new MP was given the powerful Presidential Affairs and Public Administration docket. He got down to work with gusto but rubbed some senior Cabinet ministers up the wrong way when he made his office something of a government complaints' clearing house.

Some government officials, notably the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Kgeledi George Kgoroba, saw this as interference and threatened to quit. Lt-Gen Khama was seen as a "Mr Fix It" and made other ministers look incompetent or inaccessible.

For some time, his speedy rise only fanned BDP's internal wars. Luckily, in 1998, the BNF underwent an acrimonious split, effectively assuring the BDP of victory in the 1999 general elections. BDP won six of the 13 seats held by the opposition to regain a comfortable majority in Parliament.

Then, in February 2000, Mr Mogae announced that he had granted Lt-Gen Khama sabbatical leave in fulfillment of a pact they had made before he joined politics. The nation was stunned and controversy raged amid speculation that the two men had fallen out, or Mr Mogae had used and dumped his vice-president.

Later that year, it was announced that the sabbatical had ended. Mr Mogae explained that Lt-Gen Khama would not head any ministry, but would be some sort of super minister, with sweeping powers to supervise and coordinate the implementation of government projects across ministries.

On several occasions, critics publicly asked for a report card on Mr Khama's new role as "Prime Minister", in vain.

So until he became president, few people knew what he achieved in a role some derisively equated to an odd-man's job or government prefect.

In the early days, Mr Khama established a reputation as a no-nonsense leader, with little time for politicians and their games. In the 10 years he served as vice-president, he only made technical appearances in parliament, during which he spoke little.

One of the highlights of his parliamentary career was when he teamed up with Merafhe to push through the legislative amendment to include tens of thousands of voters threatened with disenfranchisement after Mr Mogae blundered in the run-up to the 1999 polls.

His best performance came in 2000, when he launched a blistering attack on MPs and Cabinet ministers demanding a salary hike and walked out of the House before they could reply.

The same year, he strongly criticised politicians for being selfish, calling them monkeys and vultures. Save for very few occasions, Mr Khama has been modest in his public utterances. But he is a person whom many people adore while others hate him with a passion.

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