GABORONE: Botswana‘s new government must hit the ground running after booting out the party in power for sixty years in a tidal wave of supporters demanding change, analysts say.
“The end of the error,” quipped the headline in the independent Mmegi newspaper in the coverage of the whirlwind change of the power of the lawyer Duma Boko sworn in, just two days after winning a landslide in the general election.
“He was the tip of the arrow that killed Botswana’s 58-year-old political behemoth,” he said.
The hip is tilted to the left Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has “appealed to young people and its message seems to resonate with the poor and working”.
The group took 36 seats in parliament, five more than needed for a majority, according to a tally finalized on Saturday.
At Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which has held power since independence from Britain in 1966, took only six, the lowest score.
It was a stunning rebuke that few saw coming, let alone the outgoing president Mokgweetsi Masisi63, who said when he admitted his humiliation: “We got it wrong in the eyes of people.”
“This is a seismic political change that we did not anticipate,” said independent political analyst Olopeng Rabasimane.
“Change is here,” agreed the title Voice newspaper, which says that the implications of Boko’s presidency, as laid out in the UDC campaign promise, can be far-reaching and offer the potential to transform Botswana.
UDC’s ambitious offer includes creating up to 500,000 jobs and building 100,000 houses in five years, reducing water and electricity rates by 30 percent and introducing health insurance for every citizen.
In a speech received on Friday, Boko, 54, said he wanted to introduce a minimum wage of 4,000 pula (300 dollars) and to stabilize relations with partners in the country. diamond industry while diversifying the economy from dependence on the international diamond market.
The main concerns expressed by voters in the country of 2.6 million people on Wednesday were Botswana’s unemployment rate of 27 percent and the huge gap between the rich and the country’s many poor.
The economy was rocked under Masisi’s one-term government with a drop in diamond sales, a mainstay of Botswana’s profits.
Cold shower
The Boko government had to face the hard reality when it took office, he said Keith Jefferiesan independent economist and former Botswana government official.
“He will come to power when the government’s finances are in a very bad state, partly because the previous government has been overspending for years,” he told AFP.
“And on top of that, the diamond market is in a terrible state, so there is not much money available for ambitious promises.”
The new team must “very quickly make some pretty dramatic budget cuts … before they think about how to pay for all the ambitious promises,” he said.
Expectations are high after the overwhelming endorsement of the UDC in the elections, where 80 per cent of more than one million registered voters cast ballots.
“For Boko and UDC, the mandate is loud and clear; keep your promise, or risk the same fate as President Masisi and BDP,” Rabasimane said.
“In all fairness, the task before him is mammoth, but not insurmountable. The ball is in his court, and the clock is ticking,” he said.
The revolution was “given to the nation by the youth of this country,” Mmegi said.
“The incoming government must understand that these young people have given notice that if they do not work in a meaningful way, they will be sent home in 2029.
“New leaders don’t have much time. Need to hit the ground running.”
