Khama family botswana newspapers
[MEMRES-5]!
How friends became foes in Africa's diamond state
For BBC News
Ian Khama’s respectful voice barely disguises the anger that he feels.
In several interviews that Botswana’s former president has given since 2019, when he began to express dissatisfaction with his hand-picked successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, he has talked about him in damning terms.
Masisi was “drunk on power”, Khama told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme five years ago.
Since then the 71-year-old has gone into exile, spoken about a plot to poison him and been charged in Botswana with several crimes including money laundering and owning illegal firearms.
Having previously dismissed the charges as being “fabricated”, last month he returned home and appeared in court for an initial hearing.
The tension between Khama and Masisi is likely to colour the diamond-rich country's imminent general election - just three weeks away - as the former