12 Aug 2024

Nourishing democratic culture through institutional and legal reform, limits to the exercise of power and efforts to protect the peace in Africa are important components to regional progress, His Excellency, President Dr Mokgweetsi  Eric Keabetswe Masisi has said.

Speaking in an interview on recently at the Kigali International Airport  after attending the inauguration of the Rwanda President, Mr Paul Kagame, Dr Masisi said it was important for African states to support each other towards strengthened democracy.

“We have good diplomatic relations with Rwanda; we are close, and when another President is inaugurated after an election as part of the democratic process, Botswana being a firm believer in this, and also having had guests on similar occasions, we saw it duty bound to attend,” he said.

He added that the democratic process required constant reform, noting Rwanda’s recent reduction of its electoral cycle from seven to five years, along with the introduction of two-term presidential limits moving forward.

“This is a positive step. It aligns with our thinking. We believe that to nourish democracy, there must be limits to power. The constitutional provision for term limits, when imposed by people of Rwanda themselves, is something we support, as we also have term limits in Botswana that we abide by,” he stated.

In another interview with BOPA while bidding Dr Masisi farewell,  Minister of State  for Education, Ms Claudette Irere, said Rwanda, which has the world’s largest share of women representation in Parliament, had seen progress in gender balanced leadership.

“Rwanda took a deliberate decision of inclusion of women after a history where they were in the back seat. Women took centre stage under the leadership of President Kagame; we became a world leader with Parliament having 61.3 per cent of the seats being held by women, and this cuts across with women well represented in Cabinet and elsewhere,” Ms Irere said.

She added that the country had evolved to a position where gender balanced leadership had become accepted with a focus on the best individuals serving the country on merit.

President Masisi on Sunday joined fellow African leaders and multitudes of Rwandans who filled the 45 000 capacity Amahoro National Stadium to attend President Kagame’s inauguration.

Mr Kagame was being sworn in for a new five-year term as the leader of the East African state. ENDS