Former Botswana president to speak

Former Republic of Botswana President Ketumile Masire

Sacramento State will host a lecture by former Republic of Botswana President Sir Ketumile Masire on “Contemporary Issues in African Development” at 3 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 18 in the University Union Ballroom. Seating will begin at 2:30 p.m.

Masire will speak about a number of issues affecting Africa’s social, economic and political development. He will highlight his country’s problem with HIV and AIDS and also speak of his experiences in Botswana, and past, present and future efforts to maintain democracy in the country.

Masire was born in 1925 in the capital of the Bangwaketse Reserve, Bechuanaland Protectorate, which is now Kanye, Botswana. He grew up in a community where male commoners, such as himself, were expected to become low-paid migrant laborers in the mines of South Africa. He, however, worked as a school teacher at a secondary school and eventually became the headmaster.

He was the co-founder of the Botswana Democratic Party in 1962, and in 1966 he ran for office after Botswana gained independence from British colonial rule. After serving in Parliament, Masire rose to become the second president of Botswana, serving from 1980 to 1998. Masire served as the first vice-chairman of the Organization of African Unity in 1991 and as a chairman of an organization investigating the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

Masire is currently serving as the fourth Balfour African President-in-Residence at Boston University’s African Presidential Archives and Research Center.

For more information, contact Sacramento State professor Ernest Uwazie at 278-6282.