‘A humble giant of Africa’
Masire made Botswana strong
Several African dignitaries and former heads of states converged on Botswana yesterday to pay their last respects to former Botswana president Sir Ketumile Masire.
Masire, who died last week Thursday at hospital in Gaborone from an undisclosed illness, was buried at his home village of Kanye, about 90km southwest of the capital Gaborone. He could have turned 92 on July 22.
Among the dignitaries at the funeral were former president Thabo Mbeki, King Letsie III of Lesotho, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, Mozambique president and Armando Guebuza.
Masire was a cattle herder turned statesman who, as president of Botswana between 1980 and 1998, helped to solidify his country’s standing as one of the most thriving nations in Africa.
He took office following the death of president Seretse Khama, and led the country until voluntarily stepping down in 1998, having overseen a period of unprecedented economic growth.
Masire, who described himself as “a farmer who has been drawn into politics”, was credited with leading his landlocked nation through a drought that dragged on for much of the 1980s.
He was credited for his peace efforts in Lesotho, Mozambique and Kenya, and his backing of the liberation struggle in South Africa and Angola, among other countries in the region.
In 1989, he shared the Africa Prize for Leadership from the charitable organisation The Hunger Project, in recognition of the food distribution efforts that helped the country avoid starvation during the crisis.
In his youth, he received a scholarship to attend secondary school at Tiger Kloof Institute, a South African school that trained many leaders of the first government of independent Botswana.
After his parents died when he was in his early 20s, he suspended his education to become a teacher to support his siblings.
He went on to become a headmaster, but then he saved enough money to buy a tractor and pursue farming. His political career began when he served on tribal and regional councils of local government. He stepped up his career when he became founder and secretary-general of the Botswana Democratic Party.
Before becoming president, Masire served as minister of finance and development planning and vice-president.
In retirement, he established the Sir Ketumile Masire Foundation, which seeks to improve agriculture, governance and children’s health in the region.
In 1958, Masire married Gladys Olebile Molefi, who died in 2013. They had six children. “We have a saying in Botswana: ‘A man is never strong until he says what he believes and gives other men the chance to do the same’,” he once said.
“I am proud to say without a doubt, we are a strong democracy.”
In his tribute last week, Mbeki noted Masire role in the Struggle against apartheid, adding: “We have lost a humble giant whose exemplary life has made all of us proudly African. May he rest in eternal peace.”
‘‘ Ex-president’s exemplary life has made all of us proudly African