Mogae orders expulsion of a respected academic

President Festus Mogae has ordered the expulsion of a respected academic after he criticised the president in a report for hand-picking Vice-President Lt-Gen Ian Khama as his successor. Renowned University of Botswana political analyst Prof Kenneth Good was given two days to leave Botswana. Good co-authored a paper titled, Presidential Succession in Botswana: No Model for Africa that has allegedly incensed those close to Mogae and Khama. The Botswana High Court granted him a reprieve to contest the case in court on March 7 this year. He said: "The President and his deputy are essentially two managers, not politicians – one a financial bureaucrat and the other a soldier." Good criticises the government's decision to ignore a government task force's strong recommendations for the country's second university to be sited in Selibi Phikwe and instead locate it in Serowe, which is Khama's home village and political fiefdom. "Ian Khama had earlier announced that he expected his younger brother, Tshekedi, to inherit his Parliamentary seat of Serowe North West – even the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) secretariat expressed objection to such an abrogation of democratic procedures," said Good. Presidential press secretary Jeff Ramsay said: "We cannot comment on prohibited immigrants' cases. All I can say is that he (Good) has been declared a prohibited immigrant." (Business Day, Johannesburg)