Botswana lecturer wins reprieve

Kenneth Good was critical of Botswana's government

A Botswana court has allowed an Australian professor to remain in the country while he appeals against a deportation order.

Kenneth Good, a political science lecturer at the University of Botswana, was declared an unwanted immigrant by President Festus Mogae.

The order came shortly after Mr Good, 72, gave a lecture in which he said Botswana was run by a secretive elite.

Botswana is often held up as a model for democracy in Africa.

"I will go on being critical of the government. I never anticipated such a reaction from the government. I did anticipate a reaction, but not this kind," Mr Good told reporters outside the court.

"I honestly cannot say if my deportation had anything to do with my paper," he said.

No date has been set for his appeal hearing.

Earlier this month, Mr Good told a packed university lecture theatre that Botswana was run by an elite that made decisions, particularly on the presidential succession, behind closed doors and manipulated state media.

Presidential powers

The BBC's Letlhogile Lucas in the capital, Gaborone, says Botswana's democracy has for many years been associated with free speech.

But this is not the first time that presidential powers have been used in the country to declare a foreigner an illegal immigrant.

Usually, he says, people are declared unwanted in Botswana either if they too vocal or if they are perceived to be security threats.

Mr Good has lived and worked in the country for many years, writing articles that have, on occasion, been critical of government policy.

Reuters news agency reports that Mr Good was expelled in 1973 by the white minority government in neighbouring Zimbabwe, when it was called Rhodesia.