Quett Ketumile Joni Masire (1925–2017)

Sir Quett Ketumile Joni Masire, GCMG (born July 23, 1925 in Kanye, Botswana) was the second President of Botswana for the Botswana Democratic Party from 1980 to 1998. He stepped down and was replaced by the then Vice-President of Botswana, Festus Mogae, who became the third President of Botswana.

Masire was born in Kanye. He worked as teacher and headmaster of the Seepapitso Secondary School from 1949 to 1955. In 1962 he was the co-founder of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). In 1965, party leader Seretse Khama was elected prime minister of Botswana. After the independence of Botswana in 1966, he became Vice President of Botswana.

After President Seretse Khama died on 13 July 1980, Quett Masire was elected President of Botswana (18 July). He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. In 1998 he stepped down.

After his retirement as president he has been active in diplomacy, acting as a mediator in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In June 2007, he was appointed by the Southern African Development Community to mediate in a political dispute in Lesotho.[1]