The dynamics of Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba’s 2015 campaign for the Commonwealth’s secretary-generalship

Abstract

ABSTRACT Whereas scholarship has not focused on Botswana-Commonwealth relations, at least two Batswana have served in top leadership positions of the Commonwealth. Botswana’s Foreign Affairs minister, General Mompati Merafhe (1994–2008), became the longest serving chairperson of Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG). Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba served two-terms as Deputy Secretary-General from 2008 to 2014. She went on to contest the Secretary-General position in 2015 against a British candidate, and while she agonisingly lost by just two votes, the odds were stacked against her. This paper unravels the dynamics of the campaign and election held in Malta in 2015 and concludes that had President Ian Khama of Botswana not been aloof and engaged more with international organisations, Masire-Mwamba might have triumphed. Khama could have evoked Botswana’s historical links with the Caribbean, and capitalised on the sharp division and rivalry in the Caribbean Commonwealth community to get the critical votes Masire-Mwamba needed. Such an analysis accords with some Caribbean perspectives. Interestingly, Botswana was ingloriously linked to the Caribbean when Khama’s government was accused of having plagiarised Jamaica’s 50th anniversary independence logo for Botswana’s golden jubilee celebration in 2016.