Botswana is a bone dry country in the southern part of Africa. It became independent in 1966 and was listed by the U.N. as one of the least developed countries in the world. It had almost no paved roads, high schools, or electricity.
Ketumile Masire, the vice president, took over the country in 1980 upon the death of the president and served until 1998.
After independence, the DeBeers company discovered diamonds in the Botswana, and the country came into some money. President Masire used that money “to add schools, improve health care, build infrastructure and modernize farming.”
A professor from the Harvard Business School who wrote about President Masire noted that unlike many leaders who wanted to build palaces and statues, Mr. Masire said he would rather build schools. Today Botswana has achieved middle income status and has a healthy growth rate.
When Mr. Masire stepped down, Botswana had no term limits. Mr. Masire helped to establish them.
A final word from Mr. Masire: “Corruption is an evil. It is something that has really ruined the economy, the morals and everything of value in a society.”
Mr. Masire’s obituary was in the New York Times, July 1, 2017, p. A24. The information in this post is from that obit.
You may have noticed that I don’t post much about Trump any more. His act is getting old, and he starting to bore me. He’s tiresome.
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