Emboldening Paul Kagame - rolling the red carpet and giving a dictator the green light

State visits are not merely ceremonial, but are politically inspired and purposeful to increasing Botswana’s diplomatic influence, business links and furthering national interests. But this visit is bound to have an opposite effect, backfire and cause lasting damage to Gaborone’s democratic credentials.

State media reported that, ‘Kagame’s visit marked a pinnacle moment in the relations between Botswana and Rwanda’ and ‘will afford the two leaders an invaluable opportunity to exchange views on bilateral; regional and international issues of mutual interest’. A sentence that reads, ‘the visit will therefore serve to enhance and broaden the scope of bilateral cooperation between Botswana and Rwanda is various sectors of human development’ shows just how out of touch the state media is with international opinion.