Sir Ketumile Masire

Former President of Botswana
Chair, Global Africa Energy and Resource Corps
Mediator Civil War in Democratic Republic of the Congo

On Tuesday, October 11, 2005, Primary Source was pleased to welcome Former President Ketumile Masire of Botswana for an evening discussion of sustainable leadership in Africa. As a leader from 1980 to 1998 of one of Africa's most stable democracies--a nation cited by the World Bank as first in Africa for economic growth--Masire elicited admiration from the crowd of 40-45 guests who attended the event.

After an opening statement in which he emphasized that the government of Botswana sees education as supremely important for Botswana's development, Masire interacted with the audience in a question and answer format for the rest of the evening. He answered questions that ranged widely in topic, from female education and literacy to policies to encourage change from an extraction-based economy.

In response to a first question about sustainable leadership, he noted that leaders in democracies must realize, "The community has elected you not because they love you so much, but because they love themselves so much."

The failure to accept this has hampered governance in Africa, he stated, but it is not the sole problem. "The real culprits [historically speaking] were Russia and America...because they weren't interested in good leadership, but in who would go with them."

While acknowledging that "the Congolese leaders [today] are not inspiring"--and Masire knows their thinking, having worked as a mediator in the Congolese Civil War--he maintains a positive outlook. "From the thawing of the Cold War, Africa has never been the same. We talk of Botswana, but we'll soon realize Botswana is not a mutation. Other countries can be as good as Botswana or better."

He maintained that multiparty, contested elections and term limitations for presidents were important in ushering in this new era of African governmental accountability. As he playfully put it, "If [people] don't deliver the goods, they'll be spoken of in unfavorable terms. So we try to be good!... In the past, leaders tried to force people to say how good they were."

At the level of the African Union, in which he has been actively involved, he also emphasized the idea of taking responsibility. Even more, he said, than democratization or the positive performance of economies, what gave him hope was leaders coming together to agree on a policy of African responsibility for African affairs, both political and economic. He noted that peer review and a Council of Elders would be important aspects of the work of the Union. And leaders who came to the Union with blood on their hands, such as the leader of Togo, would be told, "We won't have it."

Masire explained that Africa has the ambition to one day be a single, united country like the U.S. Currently, each of five blocks of countries within Africa is trying to formalize existing informal relationships; then the five blocks can be brought into one.

The former President elicited laughs from the audience because of his candor and wit. Asked how he felt about economic diversification in Botswana, he quipped, "Diamonds are not forever."

After a brief presentation by Dorian Bowman, a teacher at the Winsor School who has participated in Primary Source's Africa course and study tour, Masire praised the notion of professional development for teachers, noting that he had benefited from opportunities to talk with colleagues when he had taught. He supported the work of Primary Source, reminding the audience that the old adage, "Once a teacher, always a teacher," applies to him.

--Deborah Cunningham