Botswana president in self-quarantine, to miss meeting on Mozambique attacks

FILE PHOTO: Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi speaks at a session at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, September 4, 2019. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham/File Photo

GABORONE (Reuters) - Botswana's president will miss a Southern African regional meeting he had been due to chair on Thursday to discuss recent attacks on Mozambique after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, prompting him to self-quarantine, his office said on Tuesday.

Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique will be attending a summit of a division of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where they will receive a report on how they can help Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province following Islamic State-linked attacks there.

Botswana is the current chair of that division, which is tasked with promoting peace and security in the region.

Vice President Slumber Tsogwane will lead Botswana's delegation to the summit, the president's press secretary, Batlhalefi Leagajang, said in a statement.

Leagajang said President Mokgweetsi Masisi self-quarantined was "out of (an) abundance of caution."

Botswana has had more than 45,850 cases of the coronavirus and more than 690 deaths since the pandemic began, according to a Reuters tally.

(Reporting by Brian Benza; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)