The following lists events that happened during the

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

: **

Quett Masire 'Ketumile Quett Joni Masire'', GCMG (24 July 1926 – 22 June 2017) was the second and longest-serving President of Botswana, in office from 1980 to 1998. He was honored with the Knighthood of the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint Geor ...

(1980–1998) **

Festus Mogae Festus Gontebanye Mogae (born 21 August 1939) is a Botswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004; after ten y ...

(1998–2008) *

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Peter Mmusi Peter Simako Otlaadisang Mmusi (born 16 May 1929, died October 1994) was the Vice-President of Botswana from 3 January 1983 until 1992. He also served as the Minister of Finance from 1980 to 1989, and as the Minister of Local Government and Lands ...

(1983–1992) ** Festus Mogae (1992–1998) **

Ian Khama Seretse Khama Ian Khama (born 27 February 1953) is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence ...

(1998–2008)

Events

1990

* Namibia is established as an independent country to the west of Botswana, giving the country another route to the ocean beside South Africa.

1991

* Sowa Soda Ash Works is established. * 12,000 public sector employees are removed from their positions for engaging in

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

1992

* March –

steps down as vice president amid scandal. He is replaced by

. * 3 July – A ruling is made in favour of

Unity Dow Unity Dow ( Diswai; born 23 April 1959) is a Motswana lawyer, human rights activist, specially elected member of parliament, and a writer. She formerly served as a judge on the High Court of Botswana and in various government ministries. Born ...

in '' Attorney General of Botswana v. Unity Dow''.

1993

* The

Pula Fund The Pula Fund is the sovereign wealth fund of Botswana. In December 2021 the fund had US$4.1 billion in assets under management. History The Pula Fund was established in November 1993, to invest surplus revenues from diamond exports. In 1997, ...

, a

sovereign wealth fund A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), sovereign investment fund, or social wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such ...

, is established. * The human rights group Ditshwanelo is founded.

1994

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in neighbouring South Africa ends. * 11 July – The

Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) is a Botswanan anti-corruption agency founded in 1994 by the government of Botswana that sets out to monitor, expose & prevent acts of corruption The current director general of the organisat ...

is established following several corruption scandals. * 15 October – The

1994 Botswana general election General elections were held in Botswana on 15 October 1994, alongside simultaneous local elections. The result was a victory for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP),Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Afric ...

is held. The

Botswana Democratic Party The Botswana Democratic Party ( abbr. BDP) is the governing party in Botswana. Its chairman is the Vice-President of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane, and its symbol is a lift jack. The party has ruled Botswana continuously since gaining independenc ...

maintains its majority. * 6 November – The

murder of Segametsi Mogomotsi Segametsi Mogomotsi was a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was found murdered on 6 November 1994 in Mochudi, Botswana. She went missing sometime on 5 November, and her body was found naked and mutilated in an open space the next morning. The ''dipheko' ...

as part of a

ritual killing A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, ...

prompts riots.

1995

* 16 February – The parliament building and downtown Gaborone are attacked by students.

1996

* Universal

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

s are established.

1997

* The Vision 2016 economic plan is launched. *

Botho University Botho University (formerly known as Botho College/NIIT) is Botswana's largest private tertiary educational provider, founded in 1997. The college offers certificates, diplomas and graduate degrees in accountancy and computer science. It is the fi ...

is founded. * April – Omang national identity cards are introduced. * October – A referendum is held to create the

Independent Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

, to lower the voting age to 18, to set

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s on the presidency, and to allow automatic succession of the vice president in the event of a presidential vacancy. All three motions pass.

1998

* 31 March – President

retires. He is succeeded by

. * 20 June – The

Botswana Congress Party The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is a political party in Botswana. The BCP was founded in 1998 in a split from the Botswana National Front, with most of the BNF's sitting Members of Parliament joining the new party after a leadership dispute w ...

is founded by Michael Dingake. * 13 July –

becomes vice president. * September – Botswana joins South Africa in an invasion of Lesotho to quell a military insurrection. * The LGBT rights group LEGABIBO is founded.

1999

* 17 May –

Yarona FM Yarona FM is an urban broadcaster targeting young adults. The radio station is a private commercial entity that has existed since 1999. It is regulated by BOCRA and attracts a unique weekly audience of 250, 000. Yarona FM identifies itself with re ...

becomes the first private radio station in Botswana. * September – A state of emergency is declared for six days following issues with voter registration. * 16 October – The

1999 Botswana general election General elections were held in Botswana on 16 October 1999, alongside local elections. The result was an eighth straight victory for the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which increased its majority to 33 of the 40 elected seats in the Na ...

is held. The Botswana Democratic Party maintains its majority. The Botswana Congress Party had acquired seats from members that left the Botswana National Front, but it loses most of these seats. * 13 December – The

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

rules that Botswana, not Namibia, has jurisdiction over

Sedudu Island Sedudu Island (known as Kasikili Island in Namibia) is a fluvial island in the Chobe River, in Botswana adjacent to the border with Namibia. The island was the subject of a territorial dispute between these countries, resolved by a 1999 ruling o ...

Deaths

* 1990 **

James G. Haskins James George Haskins (born 1914, died 1990) was a politician and businessman from Botswana. Haskins was born in Bulawayo. His father was James Haskins from Bristol who run coffee business in Tati Concessions Land and later a trading store chain he ...

, Speaker of the National Assembly ** 3 October – Bathoen Gaseitsiwe, ''

kgosi A (; ) is the title for a hereditary leader of a Tswana people, Batswana tribe. Usage The word "kgosi" is a Tswana language, Setswana term for "king" or "chief". Various affixes can be added to the word to change its meaning: adding the prefix ...

'' of

Bangwaketse The Bangwaketse (also known as the BaNgwaketse, or Ngwaketse) are one of the eight principal tribes in Botswana, and are ethnic Tswana. (The "Ba" or "Bo" prefix in African tribal names in southern Africa means "people of" or "people who speak". ...

and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

* 1991 ** Amos Dambe, politician and diplomat * 1992 ** Englishman Kgabo, politician ** Gaefalale Sebeso, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly * 1994 **

Elizabeth Pulane Moremi Elizabeth Pulane Moremi (19121994) was regent and ''mohumagadi'' (queen) of BaTawana from 1946 to 1964 while her son, Letsholathêbê II a Morêmi, was too young to rule. She married Moremi III, the ruler of BaTawana, in 1937. When he was kil ...

, regent of BaTawana ** 1 October –

, vice-president of Botswana * 1996 **

John Hardbattle John Qace Hardbattle (1945–1996) was one of the best-known Bushman activists in Botswana. "Son of a half-Bushman mother, Khwa, and an English father, Tom Hardbattle". His father was a retired policeman who traveled to South Africa and then Botswan ...

, activist * 1999 ** 8 October –

Alfred Merriweather Alfred Musgrave Merriweather OBE, CBE (19 August 1918 – 8 October 1999) was a Scottish missionary in Botswana, who was a member of the National Assembly of Botswana and its first Speaker. He helped improve public health in Botswana. Biography ...

, Speaker of the National Assembly

References

{{Years in Botswana

Years of the 20th century in Botswana