Voters in Botswana have delivered a shock defeat to the party that has ruled them for nearly six decades by handing victory to an opposition coalition and its presidential candidate Duma Boko.
The 54-year-old of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) replaces President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who on Friday conceded defeat after his Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) lost by a landslide for the first time in 58 years.
“From tomorrow, … I will start the process of handover,” Masisi said in an audio clip of a phone call with Boko that the outgoing leader posted on social media, signalling a smooth transition of power.
“You can count on me to always be there to provide whatever guidance you might want. … We will retreat to being a loyal opposition.”
Chief Justice Terence Rannowane officially declared Boko the victor on Friday afternoon. “I have the honour and privilege to declare him as elected president of Botswana. I congratulate you profoundly for the confidence that the people have shown in you,” he said.
After that, Boko was sworn in during a closed session at the office of the chief justice. In his first public remarks, the new president-elect said he was humbled by the election outcome.
“I pledge with every fibre of my being that I will do everything I can, not to fail, not to disappoint, appreciating always the enormity of the responsibility bestowed upon me by the people of this republic. It is their government,” he said.
Earlier, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) spokesperson Osupile Maroba told the AFP news agency: “The UDC has reached the minimum requirement to be declared the next government.”
Under the country’s electoral system, the first party to take 31 of 61 seats in the legislature is declared the winner, and can then install its candidate as president and form a government.
The BDP was trailing in fourth place – behind UDC, Botswana Congress Party, and Botswana Patriotic Front – according to partial tallies by the IEC earlier on Friday.
“We got it wrong big time in the eyes of the people,” Masisi, who was seeking a second five-year term in Wednesday’s elections, said at a news conference in the capital, Gaborone.
“We were really convinced of our message. But every indication, by any measure, is that there’s no way that I can pretend that we’re going to form a government.”
The BDP has governed the diamond-rich Southern African nation since 1966 and was expected to win.
‘Change is here’
This was the third time Boko, a human rights lawyer and Harvard Law School graduate, ran for president after contesting in 2014 and 2019. He founded the UDC in 2012 to unite opposition groups against the BDP.
After his win on Friday, he posted on his official page on X: “Botswana First” with a picture of a UDC campaign poster with the words “Change is Here.”
Outgoing President Masisi, a 63-year-old former high school teacher and UNICEF worker, had been widely expected to keep his parliamentary majority and serve a second and final term.
Botswana, often held up as one of Africa’s greatest success stories, ranks among the wealthiest and most stable democracies on the continent. But a global downturn in demand for mined diamonds, which account for more than 80 percent of Southern African exports, has taken a toll on the economy.
Economic growth is expected to slow to 1 percent in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund, down from 2.3 percent last year and 5.5 percent in 2022. Unemployment has risen to 27 percent with an even greater share of young people out of work.
Before the vote, the BDP had acknowledged the need to diversify the economy, pledging to develop new drivers of growth, such as agriculture and tourism.
“I am proud of our democratic processes. Although I wanted a second term, I will respectfully step aside and participate in a smooth transition process,” Masisi said.
More than one million people were registered to vote out of a population of 2.6 million.
The BDP did not “have anything new to offer”, analyst Ringisai Chikohomero of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies told the Reuters news agency. “It was very clear that the president was really relying on incumbency.”
But the UDC put forward ambitious policy proposals, he said, by pledging to more than double the minimum wage, improve social services and create a more independent judiciary.
