Masisi Wins Election in Botswana and Keeps Power

Botswana’s Chief Justice, Terrence Rannowane, has declared the country’s incumbent president Mokgweetsi Masisi has secured another five-year term in office.

The final votes are yet to be counted, but Masisi’s ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has already secured over 50 per cent of the seats in parliament, meaning they have the required majority.

“Although vote counting is still ongoing, the numbers of parliament seats attained so far by the BDP obliges me to declare Mokgweetsi Masisi as the elected president of Botswana”, Chief Justice Rannowane announced.

This election had been tipped to be one of Botswana’s closest fought contests, largely owing to a late challenge from the former president Ian Khama.

Khama brought together a coalition of opposition parties under the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), accusing his successor of autocratic behaviour.

Masisi was Khama’s handpicked successor, having previously served as his deputy, although he has reversed many of the policies that Khama had introduced, such as the loosening of restrictions on elephant trophy hunting in order to appeal to rural voters.

Masisi campaigned on his record of tackling corruption and removing many of the barriers to entry for small businesses.