I waxed indignant when it became apparent that Boris Johnson would succeed Theresa May as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister. What got me hot under the collar was his anti-black racism. I was convinced he was incapable of reinventing himself as a lover of our continent.

My anger was not irrational. In an earlier incarnation – as editor of The Spectator in the early 2000s – his publication ran an article that stated: “Orientals . . . have larger brains and higher IQ scores. Blacks are at the other pole.”

When this was brought up when he was vying for the London mayoral chain in 2008, he offered his mea culpa. But those with a long memory saw this for what it was – a phoney apology. He had written in a column published in 2002: “The continent (read Africa) may be a blot, but it is not a blot upon our conscience. The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge anymore.”

During the same year, he was quoted as saying that “the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies”. He continued: “No doubt, the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down.”

Now Johnson has resigned as both Conservative Party leader and head of government, although the exact timing of his departure from Number 10 Downing Street – the Prime Minister’s official residence – was not quite clear at the time of writing. What proved to be his undoing were revelations of his contravention of his own government’s measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. While most Britons were holed up in their homes during strict lockdowns, he was busy throwing parties where he and those in his inner circle enjoyed themselves.

Johnson’s anti-Africa views did not come to the fore during his stint at the helm of the British government from July 2019 to whenever he will depart – some say mid-September is the cut-off date. Indeed, during this short period, he appeared to be quite nice to Africans, with the UK-led Commonwealth admitting Togo and Gabon – both French-speaking countries – to its fold in June this year. Comprising mostly former British colonies, the grouping provides a forum for members to articulate issues that are important to them. Some argue that, from time to time, Commonwealth member countries do lobby Britain, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to escalate those issues to that body.

There are several other beneficial things he did for Africa while serving as Prime Minister. But it was also during this time that a plan was hatched to offload those seeking asylum in the UK on to Rwanda. The deal is being challenged in court.

It has come to light that the UK’s ambassador to Rwanda had advised against the plan, to no avail. The diplomat’s main concerns were Rwanda’s awful human rights record and “heavy-handed” security.

News-consuming South Africans would be aware of several assassinations of, or assassination attempts against, Rwandan dissidents resident in this country. Clearly, operatives of the regime in Kigali were behind all these incidents. And this is the country to which Johnson and his lieutenants wanted to send thousands of asylum seekers fleeing persecution or unbearable economic conditions in their home countries?

I hope whoever succeeds Johnson will ditch the British government’s planned appeal against the court ruling that put the whole thing on hold.

That Johnson was hellbent on the deal with Rwanda shows he never repented. I’m glad to see him go.