Duma Boko has been sworn in as Botswana’s new president after his landslide election victory kicked out Former President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which had been in power for nearly 60 years.
The event was graced by the leaders of several southern African nations, including those from Madagascar, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Boko, Who is 54 years old, took the oath in front of several thousand people in the national stadium just nine days after his Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) crushed the BDP at the ballot box.
In a speech, Boko said that for nearly sixty years, democracy remained unbroken, unproven, and untested. However, he noted that democracy was truly tested on October 30th of this year.
Last week, Boko’s left-leaning UDC won 36 seats in parliament compared with just four for the conservative BDP, in a stunning reversal for the party that had governed diamond-rich Botswana since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1966.
Although the crowd booed Masisi who was present at the inauguration, the new president praised his predecessor’s “statesmanship”.
“Botswana has set the example of a true democracy at work for the whole world to see and emulate. For that singular act, the former president will remain inscribed prominently in our hearts.”
