Duma Boko's UDC Ends Botswana Ruling Party’s Decades-Long Hold On Power

“Change is here,” Boko wrote on his Facebook page in the early hours of Friday, following it up with Friday after another post that says “Botswana president-elect.”

Outgoing president Mokgweetsi Masisi has also conceded defeat. “From tomorrow, or at your convenience… I will start the process of handover,” Masisi told Boko over a phone call, the audio clip of which he shared on his social media. “You can count on me to always be there to provide whatever guidance you might want… We will retreat to being a loyal opposition and work with you for the betterment of our country,” Masisi added.

While speaking at a press conference afterward, Masisi said that there was “overwhelming” evidence that his party did not perform well. “We’ve lost this election massively, and we need to come to terms with it. We need to make space for newly-elected leaders and respect them, and support them, so that they can succeed,” Masisi said.

UDC obtained the largest number of constituency seats in the polls, having already exceeded the 31-seat threshold needed for majority rule. This means that the coalition has full power to appoint both the attorney-general and the president.

Based on results announced so far, the BDP, which has ruled the country since independence in 1966, secured the least votes among the four major parties in the race, indicating that it has lost its once-huge support base. This comes as no surprise, however, since the people we spoke to had indicated that public morale in Masisi had tanked in the five years that he was in charge.

Political reporter Letlhogile Mpuang tells OkayAfrica that the fact that the BDP lost by a landslide came as a shock to many. “I don’t think anybody imagined it this way. I was doing some research yesterday, and I realized that this is probably one of the first times where we’ve seen an incumbent ruling party losing so many seats in a single election. It was a real shocker,” he says.

Mpuang says that the message was loud and clear on the ground — people wanted change. He commends the UDC for the pledges they made in their manifesto. “It was centered around improving people’s lives, particularly from a financial perspective and from a social perspective,” he says. “We have a huge informal sector in the country. A lot of young people have now turned it into a hustle. I think some of the initiatives that the previous government has been doing were programs that were temporary reliefs, rather than lasting solutions.”

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Over the course of 2024, 20 African countries will be holding elections. For more election coverage, check out our Election Tracker.