President Hakainde Hichilema has described former Botswana President Festus Mogae as a distinguished African statesman whose leadership and contribution to regional development will continue to inspire generations across the continent.<\/p>\n
President Hichilema said Dr Mogae was not only a leader for the people of Botswana, but also a respected figure in Southern Africa and beyond due to his commitment to democracy, good governance and regional cooperation.<\/p>\n
The President said this today when he signed the Book of Condolences at the Botswana Embassy in Lusaka following the death of Dr Mogae, who passed away on May 8, 2026, at the age of 86.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish to convey my heartfelt condolences on the passing of former President Dr Festus Mogae, who was a true leader not only for the people of Botswana, but for the entire Southern African region and the African continent at large,\u201d President Hichilema said.<\/p>\n
President Hichilema noted that even after leaving office, Dr Mogae remained actively engaged in national and regional affairs by offering guidance and support to leaders and governments.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven after his retirement from office, he remained committed to national development and continued to support successive governments through wise counsel and statesmanship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
President Hichilema further said Zambia will continue to cherish Dr Mogae\u2019s contribution to regional unity through his work in SADC, the African Union, and other international platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shall forever cherish the good works he rendered to the people of Botswana and to the region as a whole. His legacy will continue to inspire current and future generations of leaders,\u201d President Hichilema said.<\/p>\n
And Acting\u00a0Botswana\u2019s High Commissioner to Zambia, Oabona Dibeela thanked President Hichilema for finding time to sign the Book of Condolences and for standing in solidarity with the people of Botswana during the mourning period.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are deeply moved that Your Excellency has taken time out of your busy schedule to convey condolences on the passing of former President Dr. Festus Mogae. Your visit today serves as a fitting tribute to a great son of Africa and a dear friend to many,\u201d Ms Dibeela said.<\/p>\n
Dr Mogae served as Botswana\u2019s President from 1998 to 2008 and was internationally recognised for championing economic reforms, democracy and the fight against HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Hakainde Hichilema has described former Botswana President Festus Mogae as a distinguished African statesman whose leadership and contribution to regional development will continue to inspire generations across the continent. President Hichilema said Dr Mogae was not only a leader for the people of Botswana, but also a respected figure in Southern Africa and beyond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4049,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latestnewscentre","category-onlyzanis","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4050,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4048\/revisions\/4050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}