Zimbabweans have one more reason to envy their neighbours after Botswana’s President Ian Khama announced that he will be stepping down in the year a 94-year-old Mugabe will stand for election, 2018.

The Southern Times newspaper Monday said President Khama, who also leads the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), will be replaced by his deputy President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Seretse Khama Ian Khama – the son of Sir Seretse Khama, Botswana’s first post-independence leader – took over as president in April 2008.

He was the chosen successor of Festus Mogae, who stepped down at the end of his second term, after a decade at the helm.

The younger Khama secured a five-year term in October 2009 after BDP swept to victory in a parliamentary election.

 He secured a second term following the August 2014 polls, in which his party won the most seats.

He had became the Botswana vice-president in 1998.

The forthcoming transfer of power will take place during the BDP congress, the Southern Times newspaper reported.