BOTSWANA VP KHAMA CONCERNED ABOUT MISPERCEPTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L GABORONE 001027 SIPDIS AF/S FOR MUNCY E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2015 TAGS: PGOV BC SUBJECT: BOTSWANA VP KHAMA CONCERNED ABOUT MISPERCEPTIONS OF HIS PUBLIC IMAGE REF: A) GABORONE 1026 B) GABORONE 56 C) 04 GABORONE 1950 Classified By: Ambassador Joseph Huggins for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) During his farewell call on Botswana Vice President Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama July 21 (Ref A),the Ambassador urged Khama to address a widespread perception among the public that once he becomes President, Khama might curtail Botswana's freedoms (Refs B and C). Khama replied that he knew about his image but that this derived from his background. He stated that he is not a politician. As a results oriented military man entering government seven years ago, he focused his attention on getting things done. This contrasted with a politician's approach which would is to please everyone to attract votes. ¶2. (C) Khama recognized that he needed to better define his public image, but is reluctant to do so now because "President Mogae is still President." He does not want to get out in front of Mogae. Khama saidthat when asked by the press about his future plans as President, he refused to answer the question because it would not be respectful to discuss his future leadership while the current President was still in office. Moreover, given his family name and background as son of Botswana's first president, he did not want to upstage President Mogae in any way. ¶3. (C) In addition, Khama observed that President Mogae, as a career civil servant, favored compromise. So, Mogae was more conciliatory toward permanent secretaries and civil servants in the ministries who were not accomplishing the work. Khama felt that civil servants should consider government service as a calling and be more committed to serving the people of Botswana. Some permanent secretaries, he claimed, viewed their ministries as their own personal fiefdoms and were not working on behalf of government. Khama pledged that, when the time came for him to assume the presidency, he would make gradual changes in the various ministries bringing own board people who were more results oriented. ¶4. (C) Khama ended the conversation by stating that like his father, he believed in democracy and the rule of law. He stated he knows he has a responsibility of following the roadmap laid out by his father and observed that once he assumes the office of the Presidency, he will make changes on how the various ministries operate, but would not do anything to harm Botswana,s democratic image. He also stated that he would surround himself by wise men and women to advise him on important issues. This will disappoint some of the current people around him who would not be a part of this new group as he realizes that the current group want to use him for their benefit and not the benefit of the country. HUGGINS NNNN