Mokgweetsi Masisi sworn in as Botswana’s 5th president
The Southern African nation of Botswana has sworn-in its new president in the person of Mokgweetsi Masisi. The 55-year-old becomes the country’s 5th president.
He took the oath of office before the country’s national assembly in the presence of the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Parliament and his immediate predecessor, Seretse Khama Ian Khama.
The official oath was administered by Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo. President Masisi went on to deliver his inaugural speech before inspecting a guard of honour mounted by the Botswana Defence Force | Africa News
INAUGURATION ADDRESS BY H.E. MR. MOKGWEETSI E.K. MASISI PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANASUNDAY 1ST APRIL 2018,…
Posted by BWgovernment on Sunday, April 1, 2018
Botswana law, which was reviewed in 1998, restricts the president to serving two five-year terms and provides for the vice president to automatically fill the post should it become vacant.
Masisi laid out his vision for Botswana, paying tribute to the country’s immediate past president as a “great source of inspiration to all of us.”
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Masisi promised to build upon the contributions made by the previous presidents which he described as a collective legacy of over a half-century of uninterrupted peace and progress.
He said there is still need to build a Botswana in which sustained development is underpinned by economic diversification.
“Just like my predecessors, I stand to acknowledge that we are not yet where we wish to be as a nation,” said Masisi.
He added: “We shall not be satisfied until we have eradicated poverty and social exclusion in order to build a society that provides opportunity and dignity for all.”
According to Masisi, the current and former leadership of Botswana are committed to a modern Botswana that is not only open but able to openly compete with the rest of the world while maintaining its founding principles that have united this nation through difficult times.
Masisi will have his hands full with reducing the economy’s dependence on diamonds, creating jobs for the almost one in five workers who are unemployed and wooing more foreign investment.
Source: Africa News, Xinhua Akshat Verma The Kootneeti Team - Africa Watch
