Tensions have escalated between Botswana’s Former President Ian Khama and his successor Mokgweetsi Masisi. Khama has resigned from the governing party in that country.
Khama chose Mokgweetsi Masisi as his successor but now the former President says he regrets the decision.
The former president told a crowd of people, who were mainly Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) supporters, that he was abandoning the party.
It is the first time in Botswana that an ex-president has abandoned the ruling BDP, in the history of a 57-year-old organisation which has ruled Botswana uninterrupted since its independence in 1966.
Khama’s father Sir Seretse Khama was the founding president of Botswana serving from 1966 to 1980.
Khama and his successor have fallen out publicly, with Masisi reversing some policies introduced by his predecessor – including most recently the lifting of a ban on elephant trophy hunting.
Khama made the announcement of quitting, while his successor Masisi was attending the inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa.
Masisi attending President Ramaphosa’s inauguration, Related video click below:
![[file photo]Athletes exercise in the early morning in the sports ground of the University of Eldoret in western Kenya, March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola/File Photo](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/WZHV5VWNMNK4TM2H7VLKEHUIWM-120x86.jpg)
