The brand new president-elect of Botswana is human rights lawyer Duma Boko. (Photograph by Johannes Simon/Getty Pictures For 2nd CGDC Annual Assembly 2012)
No one noticed it coming.
“I don’t know what occurred … what may need led to us dropping energy,” mentioned Slumber Tsogwane final Friday. Tsogwane chairs the Botswana Democratic Social gathering (BDP), which has ruled since independence. A humiliating defeat in final week’s parliamentary elections has ended its 58-year rule.
Tsogwane, like most different BDP MPs, has misplaced his seat. The get together with probably the most seats in parliament appoints the president. With the BDP profitable simply three of the 61 seats, its chief President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded defeat on Friday.
“President Masisi failed to carry the BDP collectively and didn’t handle the nation’s financial downturn … [and oversaw] an erosion of democratic rules,” mentioned Pamela Dube, a gender and political activist in Gaborone.
The president-elect is human rights lawyer Duma Boko, chief of the United Democratic Congress, which received the 31 seats required to kind a authorities. The UDC has promised to enhance the nation’s minimal wage, profitable help among the many youth.
That promise wouldn’t have been credible coming from the BDP provided that Masisi’s regime struggled to show across the downturn triggered by a fall in international diamond costs.
The gems contribute as much as 40% of Botswana’s income. As their gross sales slumped, so did the economic system, driving unemployment to 27%.
The UDC promised to implement a brand new financial mannequin targeted on job creation and wealth-distribution plans to empower all residents.
Now it has to ship on that as a result of, as its new legislator Kgoborego Nakwane factors out, “Many younger individuals are struggling and a fantastic share stay off handouts from the federal government as a result of there aren’t any jobs.”
This text first appeared in The Continent, the pan-African weekly newspaper produced in partnership with the Mail & Guardian. It’s designed to be learn and shared on WhatsApp. Obtain your free copy right here.