Something extraordinary happened in Africa earlier this month. A ruling party, after 58 years in power, lost an election, conceded defeat, and handed over power peacefully. The internet went abuzz with many Africans calling what had happened ‘un-African’.
Yet, I wasn’t shocked. Yes, the nation had never faced this kind of challenge before, but the foundations for the respect of the democratic process were already laid decades ago, and it is that visionary leadership that has helped the nation go through this latest challenge unscathed. The nation is Botswana and the person we must credit for this un-African style of leadership is Sir Seretse Khama, Botswana’s first president.
