BOTSWANA: POLITICAL UPDATES FOR JULY 2009.

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SUBJECT: BOTSWANA: POLITICAL UPDATES FOR JULY 2009.

Botswana: African Union fails the continent
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1. (U) Botswana's Vice-President Mompati Merafhe and Minister of
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Phandu Skelemani
attended the African Union (AU) Summit held in Sirte, Libya July 1-3
and described it as "a near circus." Addressing a press conference
in Gaborone after returning from Libya, the two ministers said that
"nothing from summit can benefit Botswana." The theme of the summit
was "Investing in Agriculture for Economic Growth and Food
Security," but Merafhe and Skelemani complained that there were very
few discussions or new initiatives pertaining to the topic. Rather,
delegates were "given wrong documents despite our complaints and we
were not able to debate systematically." (Note: The inability to
debate and discuss items is antithetical to long standing tradition
of community discussion and consent in Botswana. End Note.)


2. (U) The two ministers also said that Libyan leader, Colonel
Muammar Gadaffi is a difficult person to work with and that he does
not accommodate other people's views. For instance, VP Merafhe
said Gadaffi did not allow the summit to debate the issue of
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, for whom the International
Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant of arrest for human rights
abuses. Merafhe stated that Gadaffi made a unilateral decision that
the AU would oppose the arrest warrant. This decision stifled the
debate and at the meeting only two countries, Chad and Botswana,
publically announced their position on the matter, which is that
Bashir should go to the ICC to clear his name. In regards to the
formation of the United States of Africa, another idea piloted by
Libyan President Gadaffi, Botswana has said that it does not feel
that Africa is ready to establish the United States of Africa.
Further, Merafhe stated that if a United States of Africa is formed
Botswana would not join for years or "perhaps generations."


3. (SBU) Comment: The willingness of Botswana to speak out against
the AU is very rare on the African continent. Typically, African
countries keep any issues among them out of the public eye. This
willingness to speak out against leaders, policies and now meetings
that the GOB sees as ineffective is becoming increasingly common,
but is coming at a price as other African countries are beginning to
view Botswana as a troublemaker and far too outspoken. End Comment.



Critics Allege Khama Wants to Create a Dynasty
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4. (U) A local newspaper has alleged that President Ian Khama wants
to remove Daniel Kwelagobe from the chairmanship of the ruling
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) because Kwelagobe is against
"automatic succession" in the presidency. Kwelagobe has said that
automatic succession is no longer acceptable and must be reviewed.
In Botswana the president is not directly elected by the voters, but
is instead chosen by the Parliament after each general election.
The term "automatic succession" refers to the practice in which has
evolved in Botswana whereby the sitting President resigns in the
last year of his term and hands over the reins of power to his Vice
President. The new President thus "automatically" assumes office
for one year before facing a general election, at which point given
his incumbency he can presumably retain the presidency should his
party retain the Parliamentary majority. Since the Botswana
Democratic Party has been in power since 1966, there has been no
real challenge to this practice.


5. (SBU) Some within the BDP believe that President Khama wants to
have his cousin Dikgakgamatso Seretse, currently Minister of
Defense, Justice and Security, or Kitso Mokaila, Minister of
Environment and Tourism to ascend to the Vice Presidency in 2009.
They also claim that once Khama's new VP becomes president in 2018,
President Khama's brother, Tshekedi, currently the MP for Serowe
North West should become Vice President. This would allow Tshekedi
Khama to eventually become President himself, following the
tradition of "automatic succession."


6. (U) BDP chairman Kwelagobe has gone on record to say that the law
allowing automatic succession must be repealed. (Note: it is
actually a constitutional provision as amended in 1997 that allows
succession, not an ordinary law. End note.) President Khama is now
campaigning for Tebelelo Seretse, the former head of the BDP women's
wing, to be elected to replace Kwelagobe as party chairperson at the
BDP Congress July 18-21. Tebelelo, it is argued, would not disturb
Khama's alleged grand plan to create a "Khama dynasty."

No Independent Inquiry into Killings
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7. (U) The Minister for Defense, Justice and Security Dikgakgamatso
Seretse has told Parliament that there is no need to set up an
independent inquiry to investigate extra-judicial killings by state
security forces. This statement was made in response to a question

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by Akanyang Magama, the MP for Gaborone South (BNF party),as to
whether the "increasing number of extra-judicial killings of
suspects by state security forces necessitated an independent
inquiry to restore confidence in the law enforcement agencies."


8. (U) 14 suspected criminals have been shot and killed by security
agents since April 2008 (the start of the Khama administration).
The latest killing, which is still under investigation, involved
John Kalafatis, 33, who was shot by security agents on May 13. No
security agents have yet been brought before the courts in any of
the 14 incidents. The Minister said if there is any drop in the
public's confidence in law enforcement, it is due to the general
increase in crime. He said existing legal processes can be used to
address the alleged extra-judicial killings. Seretse explained that
police have different units through which they can investigate all
the cases. The GOB is also in the process of establishing a
National Human Rights Institution to deal broadly with human rights
questions.


9. (SBU) Comment: While Minister Seretse says that the drop in
public confidence is due to a general increase in crime, Embassy
officers have heard contacts express concerns that the Government
has not been handling the Kalafatis investigation in a transparent
manner. This does not mean that it is not being handled properly,
but that there is a lack of openness which breeds suspicion. This
coupled with the number of shootings have led some people to ask
whether the problem is a lack of training for Directorate of
Intelligence and Security Services
(DISS) officers, a view by the DISS that they are above the law, or
an improper use of DISS officers to perform duties customarily
performed by, and in the past assigned, to the Botswana Police
Force. End Comment.


Nolan