Botswana’s President Ian Khama has said he will be looking for a beautiful wife after he retires as president, local media reported on Wednesday.
Mr Khama who took over leadership of the country in April 2008 is set to be replaced in March 31 by his deputy president Mokgweetsi Masisi.
“After April 1, 2018 I will ask Kgosi Maruje III and MP Butale to help me look for a beautiful wife also,” President Khama was quoted by Mmegionline newspaper at Masunga village during his farewell tour. The village is in the North East District of Botswana, 512.8 kilometres north of the capital Gaborone.
The President said he was “carefully listening” to Kgosi Maruje III and Tati West MP Biggie Butale introducing their ‘‘beautiful wives.’’
“As you know, my job took me to different villages and towns across the length and breadth of this country, I didn’t have a chance to look for a beautiful wife also,” the only bachelor head of state in the region was also quoted.
Engagement to Dr Nomsa Mbere
The 64-year-old was in 1992 engaged to Dr Nomsa Mbere, who is renowned for her charity work and for several years served as the president of the Botswana Red Cross.
The President later confirmed he was not engaged to Ms Mbere anymore.
According to reports, Khama’s mother, Lady Ruth Khama was fond of Mbere and that Bangwato elders were engrossed in marriage negotiations but the President stopped the marriage process after requesting a prolonged timeout to mourn his mother after she passed on.
Mr Khama has never been linked to any other woman apart from her in fact there have been unconfirmed rumours that the President might be gay.
President Khama has been spotted with a ‘girlfriend’ Yarona Sharp according to the publication, but it remains to be seen whether that’s the one he will tie the knot with after April 1, 2018.
In 2010, President Khama attracted raving media reviews when he presented his choice of a wife as, “tall, slim and good-looking and not a fat one”, the Mmegionline newspaper further said.
Botswana’s political landscape
Mr Khama is the fourth president of Botswana since the country’s independence from Britain in 1966.
The southern African nation is one of Africa’s most stable countries and the continent’s longest continuous multi-party democracy.
Botswana is relatively free of corruption and has a good human rights record.
Critics have described the President as an authoritarian leader but his supporters say he is decisive and efficient.
His no-nonsense approach has made him popular abroad as he has broken ranks with regional leaders’ timid approach to the democratic abuses by Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe.
He is a graduate of Sandhurst college in Britain and was the commander of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF).
