Editing History of Botswana (section)

=== Presidency of Festus Mogae ===
[[File:George Bush with African national leaders February 26, 2002.jpg|thumb|Festus Mogae alongside foreign presidents [[Joaquim Chissano]], [[George W. Bush]], and [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] in 2002]]
Masire stepped down as president on 1 April 1998, and he was succeeded by Vice-President Festus Mogae.{{Sfn|Ntuane|2018|p=338}} Mogae made the controversial decision to appoint Ian Khama, commander of the army and the son of Seretse Khama, as the next vice-president,{{Sfn|Makgala|Malila|2022|p=305}} passing his choice through by threatening to dissolve parliament.{{Sfn|Botlhomilwe|Sebudubudu|Maripe|2011|p=333}} Although they were officially neutral between the factions of the BDP, Mogae and Khama were both understood to be major figures among the A-Team.{{Sfn|Lotshwao|Suping|2013|p=347}}

1998 saw one of many splits within the BNF opposition party. It had divided into two factions: the conservatives who held socialist beliefs and the progressives who held social democratic beliefs. Violence at the party's congress saw progressives split off into their own party, the [[Botswana Congress Party]] (BCP), which became the main opposition party until they lost most of their seats in [[1999 Botswana general election|the 1999 election]].{{Sfn|Lotshwao|Suping|2013|p=344}} This division of the opposition, as well as the civil reforms of the previous years, allowed the BDP to regain some of the seats that it lost in 1994.{{Sfn|Molutsi|2004|pp=168–169}} Several southern members of the BCP's leadership returned to the BNF after all of the top positions were taken by northerners.{{Sfn|Makgala|2009|p=237}}

To raise themselves to the level of the Tswana tribes, the Yeyi people named a paramount chief in 1999, but this went unrecognised by the Chieftainship Act. They brought the issue to the Supreme Court, which struck the relevant provision of the law as discriminatory.{{Sfn|Gulbrandsen|2012|p=215}} Mogae established a commission in 2000 to review minority tribes' representation in the House of Chiefs, which in turn caused protest from those who felt Mogae sought to undermine the power of the chiefs.{{Sfn|Makgala|2009|p=239}} The commission determined that the House of Chiefs should be retained, and it was renamed to the Setswana ''Ntlo ya Dikgosi''.{{Sfn|Gulbrandsen|2012|p=216}} Other proposed changes were not accepted following pushback from the major Tswana tribes, particularly the Ngwato.{{Sfn|Gulbrandsen|2012|pp=217–218}} The following year, the Kgatla-baga-Mmanaana people saw their chief [[Gobuamang Gobuamang II]] formally recognised as a minor ''kgosi'' within the Kwena territory where they reside.{{Sfn|Gulbrandsen|2012|p=177}}

The [[Botswana–Namibia border]] came under dispute in 1999 when both countries claimed a territory in the [[Caprivi Strip]].{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|pp=xx–xxi}} In the 2000s, Botswana invested heavily in the development of an air force.{{Sfn|Beaulier|Subrick|2006|p=112}} [[Botswana Television]] was established in 2000. The Tsodilo Hills became a [[World Heritage Site]] in 2001. The San people issued a legal challenge in 2002 to contest their expulsion from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, but the case was dismissed. [[Mosadi Seboko]] of the [[Lete people]] became the first female leader of a tribe in 2003.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=xxi}} Mogae had one of the government's most prominent critics, [[Kenneth Good (political scientist)|Kenneth Good]], deported in February 2005.{{Sfn|Botlhomilwe|Sebudubudu|Maripe|2011|pp=333–334}}{{Sfn|Rotberg|2023|pp=226–227}} The [[Three Dikgosi Monument]] was unveiled in 2005.{{Sfn|Parsons|2006|p=680}}

Mogae considered the nation's HIV/AIDS pandemic to be the most important issue during his presidency.{{Sfn|Rotberg|2023|p=226}} To combat it, he made [[antiretroviral]] treatments for HIV/AIDS freely available.{{Sfn|Rotberg|2023|p=225}}