Gaborone (Botswana), 5 November 2022 (SPS) - Botswana's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lemogang Kwape, on Thursday reiterated his country's permanent commitment to defending the right of the Saharawi people to self-determination and independence.
At a ceremony organized by the Botswana government on the occasion of United Nations Day in Gaborone, in collaboration with the UN body, Mr. Lemogang Kwape affirmed that "Botswana supports the Saharawi people and its just cause for self-determination and independence".
"Since its independence and despite the many challenges, Botswana includes in its agendas for the deliberations of the UN General Assembly, the issue of defending the right of peoples to self-determination, including the Saharawi and Palestinian peoples," he added.
Botswana had previously called on African countries to "speak with one voice" to support the right to freedom and independence of Western Sahara and to stand in solidarity with its people through relevant international organizations and bodies.
In his address to the Extraordinary African Conference on "Silencing the Guns in Africa", held on 6 December 2020, the President of the Republic of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, denounced Morocco's continued occupation of Western Sahara, while calling on the African Union and the UN to intervene to enable the Saharawi people to exercise their right to self-determination and independence.
062/T