Botswana Ex-President Khama Splits Ruling Party With Exit
- Says he wants to join a new party to remove BDP from power
- Voters in diamond producer head to polls in five months
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Botswana’s former president, Ian Khama, is leaving the country’s ruling party after months of policy disputes with President Mokgweetsi Masisi, the man he handpicked to succeed him.
Khama announced his decision in front of hundreds of supporters in Serowe, the capital of the country’s largest district, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) northwest of Gaborone. His move, just five months before general elections, effectively splits the party that has ruled the world’s second-largest diamond producer since independence in 1966.