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Sparkle: Botswana supplies at least 70% of De Beers’ rough diamonds. Debswana, an equal partnership between the government and the De Beers group, has four mines. Photo: Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP

ANALYSIS: Its a political game for Botswana and De Beers

Ahead of Botswana’s general elections in 2024, President Mokgweetsi Masisi uses De Beers partnership to win votes, say analysts

No extradition request yet as Botswana issues warrant of arrest for ex-president Ian Khama

The former head of state is wanted for the unlawful possession of firearms and is to be apprehended on sight, according to the arrest warrant

Former president of Botswana, Ian Khama. (Paul Botes/M&G)

Why do presidents cling to power?

Four former heads of state speak about what being president is actually like

Favoured: Botswana’s President Masisi
is one of three finalists bidding for a portion
of the government’s Banyana Farms in the Kgalagadi district in defiance of a restriction that only people who don’t have farms may bid. (Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP)

Botswana’s president goes shopping for a farm

Mokgweetsi Masisi is on a shortlist to acquire a portion of Botswana’s Banyana Farms — even though his bid did not meet the brief

A Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) supporter holds up a poster during an election campaign rally in Mokgweetsi Masisi’s, President of Botswana and leader of the BDP, home village in Moshupa.  (Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP)

Censorship, the unexpected side-effect of Covid-19

If the coronavirus outbreak has taught us anything beyond the necessity of washing our hands, it is that its victim has been leadership

A Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) supporter holds up a poster during an election campaign rally in Mokgweetsi Masisi’s, President of Botswana and leader of the BDP, home village in Moshupa.  (Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP)

Botswana’s media is in crisis

COMMENT We live in a divided political environment and amid radical economic disparities. But there is one thing on which virtually everyone in Botswana agrees: most of the news…

About-turn: Botswana’s former president, Ian Khama, who left the ruling party founded by his father, is backing the opposition in the runup to the elections on Wednesday, October 23. (Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP)

Khama’s hand still rocks Botswana

Shift in alliances, a new party and an unhappy ex-president may affect the outcome of next week’s election

Former Botswana president Ian Khama. (Paul Botes/M&G)

Botswana ex-president backs opposition ahead of poll

Ian Khama threw his weight behind the opposition in order to oust his handpicked successor

Beef: Bridget Radebe has been alleged to be at the centre of a plot to remove Botswana’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi,  — an allegation she described as absurd. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Botswana allegations are ‘crazy’

Mining mogul Bridgette Radebe denies meddling in the neighbouring country’s politics

Former Botswana president Ian Khama. (Paul Botes/M&G)

Ian Khama and the post-presidential blues

Ian Khama thought he had executed the perfect transition from power. He was wrong. Now his hand-picked successor is tearing up his legacy

President Mokgweetsi Masisi (pictured) is squaring off against an ex-foreign minister, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, who is backed by Masisi’s predecessor and rival, Ian Khama. (Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP)

Botswana’s governing party braces for high-stakes congress

For the first time in the history of one of Africa’s most stable democracies, the ruling BDP will see a genuine fight for the top job

Kgosi is Khama’s close ally. One of Masisi’s first acts as president was to fire him as intelligence boss.

Botswana arrests ex-spy boss

High-profile arrest comes against the backdrop of a struggle between the president and his predecessor

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has made sweeping changes to the government. (Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP)

Botswana’s big men battle it out

Current President Masisi is unpicking former president Khama’s legacy

Manchester United’s Paul Pogba celebrates with team mates after scoring their second goal (Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters)

Botswana hangs on to the death penalty

Most of Africa is abandoning the death penalty but Botswana — an affluent, landlocked, diamond-exporting state — is among the leading exceptions

At one point Peter Magosi was a member of Special Forces

Who is Botswana’s new spy chief?

Peter Magosi joined the army at the age of 22 and progressed through the ranks to become a brigadier

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. (Reuters)

Botswana’s electoral disconnect ― and how it keeps the ruling party in power

By disconnecting presidential terms from electoral cycles, ruling parties in Botswana and South Africa preserve the ‘incumbency effect’

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. (Reuters)

Who is Botswana’s new President Mokgweetsi Masisi?

He could reverse many of Ian Khama’s controversial policies, but is incoming President Mokgweetsi Masisi politically strong enough to do so?

This weekend’s Numsa congress could reflect whether the JC Bez rebels have enough momentum to unseat Irvin Jim

Botswana president’s bittersweet farewell

Khama instituted populist programmes but he was also seen as authoritarian

Antique ivory – defined as pre-1947 worked ivory – is an exception and can be traded in the UK and EU.

Paradigm shift as African countries throw their weight behind ivory ban

The EU and UK are fuelling the illegal trade through their continuing sale of legal ivory items

In Angola – Southern Africa’s largest oil producing nation – President José Eduardo dos Santos handed over power in 2017 after 38 years at the head of the country’s ruling MPLA

Is the wind of change blowing across southern Africa?

With the possibility of a election and presidents stepping down at the end of 2018, what is certain is that the region will look very different