24 Nov 2019

President, Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has assured the African Union Commission (AUC) of Botswana’s solidarity and support, especially that the two were entwined not just physically, but emotionally, intellectually and conceptually.

Speaking at a brief press conference after a courtesy call on him by the AUC chairperson, Mr Moussa Mahamat at a Cabinet retreat at Manong Game Lodge near Pitsane on November 23, President Masisi said the country was also prepared to serve the commission, including through timely payment of its contributions and ensuring such contributions were fully accounted for.

“We are also willing and ready to commit in other ways such as human resource if the commission so wishes. Botswana will play its part fully as a member in good standing of the African Union,” he said.

President Masisi also said that Botswana welcomed AU initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and the commitment to dialogue in order to harmonise and improve coordination, which he labelled as milestones of activities and projects of agenda 2053.

He said other projects on the agenda included commitment to peace and security by resolving to silence the guns on the continent.

“We are part of all these and others such as migration and movement of goods and services. The AUC is at liberty to raise any issue with us that they may want us to help with, and they will not find us wanting,” he said.

Dr Masisi assured Mr Mahamat that Botswana would continue to play a more involved part in helping the commission in budgeting and managing its resources appropriately as a way of striving to liberate the continent from dependency on donor funding for its development.

President Masisi also appreciated Mr Mahamat and his delegation for the visit, and said the latter had been a pillar of stability and intellectual foresight in the AUC. He also said that Botswana was grateful for his words of complement, especially to the early leaders who made the country what it is today, as well as the past presidents who were involved in the affairs of the continent such as peacekeeping efforts.

For his part, Mr Mahamat said that his visit to Botswana was mainly to congratulate President Masisi and exchange views with him on the agenda of the AUC, which included the will by the commission to ‘silence the guns’, which is also the theme for the next AU summit.

Mr Mahamat stated that he wanted to share ideas with President Masisi on strategies on how to deepen integration on the continent for economic and trade prosperity. Mr Mahamat also hailed Botswana as a country characterised by good governance, and therefore a reference for the continent.

President Masisi has always been aware of African issues and AUC programmes through his previous engagements as a senior minister and Vice President, he said.

“As president of Botswana today, we have come to rely on him, on his wisdom because of his commitment and that will help us execute the flagship projects that are contained in the programme of the AUC,” he said.

Mr Mahamat also said that good governance as existing in Botswana was the basis of everything. “You cannot have peace and security, socio-economic development, and neither can you have good relations in terms of good partnerships on the continent if you do not have good governance at home,” he said.

He therefore said it was vital that Africa put her house in order before it could expect to have good relations with the rest of the world, and that Botswana had distinguished herself when it came to good governance, which raised the need for her to share her secrets with the rest of the continent.

Mr Mahamat indicated that in 2017, the AUC launched financial and institutional reforms as a way of making the organs more effective and also ensured the enhancement of commitment by the member states, which would in turn help smooth implementation of the AUC 2053 agenda for the continent.

Mr Mahamat made a stopover in South Africa where he had gone to pay a courtesy call on President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is the incoming chairperson on the AU. ends