![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.ghana-mma.com\/2019\/06\/Ian-Khama-696x522.jpg\" "\\"Ian")
<\/div>Botswanan former president Ian Khama has accused his chosen "},"modified":"2019-06-01T08:19:46","modified_gmt":"2019-06-01T08:19:46","slug":"botswana-ex-president-slams-successor-today-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/01\/botswana-ex-president-slams-successor-today-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Botswana ex-president slams successor | TODAY.NG"},"content":{"rendered":"
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/Ian-Khama-696x522.jpg\" "\\"Ian")
<\/div>\nBotswanan former president Ian Khama has accused his chosen successor of becoming an autocrat and threatening the country\u2019s reputation as a beacon of stability in Africa.<\/p>\n
Khama, 66, last week left the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in a culmination of a dramatic fall-out with President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who took office last year.<\/p>\n
Khama told AFP that he took the \u201cvery painful\u201d decision to leave the BDP because of the \u201cimmature and arrogant\u201d attitude of Masisi\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe person who I nominated to be my successor, as soon as he took office became very autocratic, very intolerant and it has led to a decline in the democratic credentials that we have a reputation for,\u201d Khama said in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n
After serving the constitutional maximum of ten years in office, Khama handed power in April 2018 to Masisi, who was then his deputy.<\/p>\n
Khama stepped down 18 months before elections, allowing Masisi to settle into the role and start campaigning.<\/p>\n
But the two leaders have clashed so badly that Khama last weekend quit the party and declared he would campaign against it in the October elections.<\/p>\n
Khama \u2013 whose father Sir Seretse Khama co-founded the BDP in 1962 \u2013 said he was not joining another party but would back some opposition parliamentary candidates.<\/p>\n
Election in the balance?<\/strong><\/p>\n He said some senior BDP officials fear the party may be \u201cheading for an election defeat\u201d because they believe Masisi \u201chas now become a liability\u201d.<\/p>\n Since coming to office, Masisi changed several key policies adopted by Khama \u2014 the most high-profile being the lifting of the wildlife sports hunting ban imposed in 2014.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me it\u2019s so sad and extremely painful that all these years\u2019 work to build up to what we had achieved is being put in reverse,\u201d said Khama, adding Masisi never previously objected to the ban.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had stability for many years, we have had wildlife for many years, we have been trying to play our part as a responsible member of the international community in fostering democracy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you see what is happening, putting all the hard work into reverse, it is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n Khama accused Masisi of cracking down on dissent in Botswana.<\/p>\n \u201cAnybody who is seen as an opponent in the party or opposition parties \u2014 there is this use of state security organs to go after them and harass people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are things we have never seen in Botswana and one just cringes. It\u2019s that bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have seen that happen in other countries,\u201d he added, warning the country would \u201cgradually start having a serious deficit in democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Masisi and the BDP have not publicly responded to Khama\u2019s criticisms.<\/p>\n \u2018Painful decision\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very painful decision, a very hard one and I gave a lot of thought to it,\u201d the former leader said about leaving the party, which has ruled Botswana since independence from Britain in 1966 but lost popularity under Khama\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n When in office, Khama was renowned for his straight talking \u2013 publicly criticising US President Donald Trump and then-president Robert Mugabe in neighbouring Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n He said he was determined to be equally frank about Masisi.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he was my vice president\u2026 he never displayed any of these issues we are now seeing, (he was) always very intelligent, very supportive of all these policies that he is now reversing.\u201d<\/p>\n Botswana last week attracted world headlines over Masisi\u2019s decision to end the hunting ban.<\/p>\n The government said elephant hunting would help control the booming population which it said was causing serious damage to farmers\u2019 livelihoods.<\/p>\n Botswana has the world\u2019s largest elephant population with more than 135 000 roaming freely in its unfenced parks and wide open spaces.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n