Botswana: Former President Khama Accused Of Illegally Possessing Firearms

Botswana's former president Ian Khama faces thirteen criminal charges, also including illegally possessing five firearms, court documents showed on the Wednesday. Khama, who then governed one of Africa's most stable democracies for 10 years until the 2018, has also been summoned to appear before a court in Gaborone on the

Thursday. It is unclear if he will show up as ordered. The son of the country's founding leader has been living in self-imposed exile in neighbouring South Africa since the November. Khama, 69, then fell out with his handpicked successor Mokgweetsi Masisi whom he has accused of authoritarianism.Court papers said Khama is accused

alongside four others, including a former intelligence chief and a suspended police boss. The five face a total of 38 charges ranging from receiving stolen property and unlawful possession of firearms to registering firearms under false pretences.Illegal possession of guns carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail. In the runup to the

2019 general elections, Khama dramatically resigned from the Botswana Democratic Party, the party his father Seretse Khama founded and which has held power since 1966.