Botswana will have a new ruling party for the first time in 58 years after an opposition coalition, Umbrella for Democratic Change, secured a landslide victory in a general election held Wednesday.
Outgoing president Mokgweetsi Masisi expressed shock at the loss, but accepted defeat. In a televised address Friday he conceded defeat, which denied him a second and final term in office.
Masisi, 63, was elected Botswana’s president in 2019.
“I wish to congratulate the opposition on their victory and concede the election. I am proud of our democratic processes, and I respect the will of the people,” Masisi said. “I wish to assure all of you, as I have already assured the president elect, Advocate Duma Boko, that although I wished to continue serving you as president for a second term, the final term, I will respectfully step aside and participate in a smooth transition process ahead of inauguration.”
As he vacates office, Masisi said he does not have concerns he might be prosecuted over actions while in office.
“Look at my hands. They look clean. I feel they are clean, I know they’re clean,” he said. “If anyone finds any evidence, take me to court. Now will be the time because it’s in the constitution. The protection of the president is only temporary.”
President-elect Duma Boko pledged a people-centered approach to his incoming administration.
“I am truly, truly humbled, and I can only pledge to them that I will do the very best and as I told them, where I fail and falter, I will look to them to guide and assist, that’s all one can do with humility,” he said. “Thank you very much to the nation.”
Boko, a 54-year-old human rights lawyer, praised Masisi for the smooth transfer of power, which he says maintains Botswana’s place among peaceful and democratic nations in Africa.
“What has happened today takes our democracy to a higher level,” Boko said. “It now means we have seen a successful, peaceful, orderly democratic transition from one regime to the next, and this happened in full view of the citizens of this country, with their full participation and endorsement.”
The Botswana Congress Party, which pulled out of the Umbrella for Democratic Change alliance in 2022 over differences, will now become the main opposition in parliament.
Its leader, Dumelang Saleshando, said his party will keep the new government in check in line with the role of the opposition.
“The voter has said the UDC must form a government, and the voter has said they want the BCP as the biggest opposition block,” he said. “We are going to get ready as BCP to perform that function."
Former Botswana President Ian Khama’s party, the Botswana Patriotic Front, came in third in the vote count, while Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party was last. Boko will be officially sworn in by the country’s chief justice later this month.
