BOTSWANA’S FORMER PRESIDENT RETURNS FROM SELF EXILE
BBC- Botswana’s former President Ian Khama has unexpectedly returned to the country after three years of self-imposed exile, appearing in court to face charges, including money laundering and owning illegal firearms.
The 71-year-old had only recently claimed there was a plot to poison him if he set foot on home soil.
The government called those allegations “outrageous”.
Supporters chanted “the general is back” as Khama left the courthouse on Friday in the capital, Gaborone.
Ian Khama led Botswana for 10 years until 2018.
He is not standing for office again in next month’s election, in which his bitter rival President Mokgweetsi Masisi is seeking a second term.
Khama has called Masisi “the Botswana version of Donald Trump” and believes appointing him as his successor in the governing Botswana Democratic Party was a “mistake”.
