29 Nov 2015

President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama says though Ms Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba lost the Commonwealth Secretary General race, she acquitted herself well, especially in the second round of the voting process. 

Ms Masire-Mwamba lost the race for the sixth Commonwealth Secretary General position to Ms Patricia Scotland of Dominica by 24 votes to 26 in Malta on Friday.

The results, President Khama said, showed that Ms Masire-Mwamba had the confidence of many countries.

While he acknowledging that it was never nice to lose, President Khama had soothing words for Ms Masire-Mwamba.

 “Obviously it was very painful but that was not the end of the world. Like any process of an election where you stand against other candidates and countries from the Commonwealth all had their preferred candidate.  But the difference with the Commonwealth is that they have to agree by consensus. We must now put the election process behind us and give support to and work with the new secretary general for the benefit of the organisation,” he said.

For her part, Ms Masire-Mwamba said, “having lost with a very fine margin is a good position to end on. When you lose like this, it is always a mixed blessing because you feel you are so close and of course far because only the final result count.” 

Elections for the position of the sixth Commonwealth Secretary General were held in a closed session during the 24th biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) via a secret poll and only heads of state or their ministerial representatives voted. 

Having served as Commonwealth deputy secretary general for two terms until last year, many had hoped that would put Ms Masire-Mwamba in a good position to become not only the first woman but the second African to serve in such office after Nigeria between 1990 and 2000.

However, it turned out she fell off by only two votes against Ms Scotland, originally from Dominica and now a citizen of the United Kingdom, having served in the House of Lords.  

Figures add up to 50 against the 53 Commonwealth member states, which meant three did not vote.   Ms Masire-Mwamba had kind words for Batswana who had put hands in their pockets and supported her not with just the words but sometimes even financially. 

“I never felt it was my race alone, but had always felt that we were doing it collectively as Batswana. From my point of view, I feel that I ran a gallant race. I am humbled by support of Batswana as well as the family.  I enjoyed warm embrace and overwhelming support that had streamed in from all corners of Botswana,” she said in an interview, some few minutes just after receiving news that she had lost the election.

She remained adamant that hers was a gallant fight which every Motswana should be proud of saying “I really feel very proud at this moment and I feel that we lost having fought and fought very hard and I think that is something that we can be proud of as Batswana.

Although today I cannot look Batswana in the eye and say we did it, I can still say to them we did it.” On the campaign, she said it had been long having worked on it over the past 18 months after she left the Commonwealth office.

“It has been long and challenging because when you campaign for positions like these it is not something that you can do alone but with the government and mutually dependent on each other to deliver good results. 

I think it is also particularly challenging for us in developing countries because a campaign of this nature is also not inexpensive, it demands a lot from you as an individual and also in terms of being able to go around visiting countries to communicate your messages you need a lot of financial backing and other resources.”

Going forward, she said she had learnt a lot and was hopeful that lessons that she had learnt and also as a country, Batswana can only work together to position and make it easier next time round for others who would be encouraged to dream big and to know that they can reach for the stars and go as high as they would want to go.

As for her next step, she said she was yet to play a key role in development issues at national level and beyond.

“And, therefore I think that like everything that happens, when one door closes and another one opens, we will be looking to see and assess what our strategies and opportunities are going forward.”

Not only did she thank Batswana for their immense support but her father, Sir Ketumile Masire, whom she said had been a role model and had taught them to stand on their feet and fight for what they believed in. 

“My father has been fantastic in this race as had my husband and children as well as the entire family,” she said.

Consequently, a good number of the family was in Malta to show her their support even when she did not win the race. Final message was that she was also fighting for the women of Botswana as well as the young people. 

She was also thankful of her campaign team led by Kunda Neill and Thato Masire; young people from Botswana and with so much energy and creativity.

“And therefore I don’t want any young person to feel discouraged or feel that we have lost but instead to acknowledge and recognise that we had gained so much and we can build on this success for the future.”

She further said the key learning to Batswana was that it is entirely doable, adding “I think what we have learnt is that next time round we need to dig deeper and really build on successes that we have had today. If we don’t continue to build and to learn our lessons from the experiences of today then we will not do better,” she said. 

Notwithstanding, she congratulated Ms Scotland for winning the position saying “she is somebody I know and I have worked with and I believe she can indeed deliver.” 

Meanwhile, Ms Masire-Mwamba will be joining her family in London, UK and will return to Botswana on December 9.

Earlier on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi had continued to lobby, during foreign ministers meetings also held in Malta, for support from countries to vote for Ms Masire-Mwamba. 

Dr Venson-Moitoi had indicated just how the race would be tough even though she was adamant of support from the SADC region as well as the African Union, who had endorsed her as their candidate.

However, the 27th day of November did not turn out as all Batswana might had wished because having to contest against a candidate supported by the Commonwealth powerhouses in the likes of United Kingdom, was a great challenge on its own. As if that was not enough, all Caribbean countries were represented. Ends