By Nellie Peyton
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Botswana holds a national election on Oct. 30, with President Mokgweetsi Masisi favourite to win a second term against three challengers in a nation his Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has governed since independence from Britain in 1966.
Voters elect National Assembly members, who then pick the president. Here are some facts about the candidates:
MOKGWEETSI MASISI
Masisi has been president since 2018 when he ascended to the post after serving as vice president under predecessor Ian Khama. He retained the presidency when his BDP party won the 2019 election.
The 63-year-old is a former schoolteacher who worked for U.N. children’s agency UNICEF before entering politics. During his first term he contended with high unemployment and lower growth due to declining global demand for diamonds, which Botswana’s economy relies on.
Masisi gained support last year for negotiating a new sales deal with De Beers that will give the country a bigger share of its diamond wealth, although opponents say he has not done enough to diversify the economy and create jobs.
He has fallen out with Khama, who accuses him of authoritarianism and is backing an opposition party.
DUMA BOKO
Duma Boko, 54, a lawyer, is running for the third time as leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), an opposition coalition that came second in 2019 and remains the BDP’s biggest challenge.
In his party manifesto, Boko proposes increasing the government’s role in the economy to achieve social development and sustainable growth.
Boko’s party challenged the last election as fraudulent at the High Court, which dismissed the case.
DUMELANG SALESHANDO
Dumelang Saleshando, 53, is leader of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). The BCP was founded in 1998 and has won between 10%-20% of votes in past elections.
Saleshando took over from his father in 2010 as BCP party leader. The party describes itself as having social democratic principles and is campaigning with the motto “Save Botswana”.
MEPHATO REATILE
Mephato Reatile is leader of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), a party created in 2019 by members of the ruling party who followed Khama when he broke away from the BDP because of his feud with Masisi.
Khama, whose father Seretse Khama was Botswana’s founding president, has returned from three years in exile to support the BPF in the election.
The party won about 4% of votes in 2019.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton; Additional reporting by Brian Benza; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Andrew Cawthorne)
