Botswana’s opposition coalition on Wednesday accused the Directorate of Intelligence and Services (DIS) and sections of the media of peddling lies about an alleged assassination attempt on President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
Local media reports claimed that Masisi aborted a scheduled trip to attend the US-African Business Summit in Mozambique two weeks ago following intelligence that there was an attempt on his life.
Umbrella for Democratic Change vice president Dumelang Saleshando told journalists in Gaborone that the assassination plot claims were an attempt to win Masisi sympathy votes in Botswana’s forthcoming elections set for October.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the DIS staged an assassination attempt on President Masisi in the hope of gathering sympathy votes to improve the political fortunes of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party,” said Saleshando.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Masisi refused to answer questions about the alleged assassination plot.
“Anything to do with my security is not my concern. I’m not responsible for my own security,” said Masisi and referred the media to DIS chief Peter Magosi for comments.
KO/jn/APA