Botswana Ruling Party Rejected After 58 Years In Power

thriving tourism industry in the country.

A man in a dark blue suit wearing a light blue shirt and a tie
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP
Image caption,Duma Boko, leader of the UDC, is set to be Botswana’s next president
“The unemployment rate is very very high and people are living literally on handouts from government because there are no jobs. So it’s really bad,” Nkawana said.

The party has committed to creating 450,000 to 500,000 jobs within five years.

The Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), supported by former President Ian Khama who split from the BDP, has so far secured five seats while the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has got 14 seats as things stand.

Political analyst Lesole Machacha said the way that the change in government has been accepted was very impressive.

“It’s very rare [on the continent] for a smooth transition to occur,” he told the BBC. “This has been very peaceful.”

Masisi – in office since 2018 – led the BDP’s failed campaign.

The president ran on a message that his party could bring about “change”, but not enough voters were convinced the BDP could do what was needed for the country.

Official results are expected to be announced by the electoral commission later Friday.

Additional reporting from Innocent Selatlhwa in Gaborone.