Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded defeat on Friday after a shocking election result that saw his Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) lose by a landslide after 58 years in power.
In an audio clip of his phone call to the president elect Boko, Masisi said expressed willingness to handover. The seceded president declared his commitment to the new leadership saying he will always be there for new president to provide whatever guidance he might want.
“From tomorrow… I will start the process of handover, and you can count on me to always be there to provide whatever guidance you might want,” Masisi said in an audio clip of his phone call to Boko, which he posted on X.
“We will retreat to being a loyal opposition and work with you for the betterment of our country,” he said.
The president-elect is 54-year-old lawyer Duma Boko, leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) coalition which passed the 31-seat threshold needed to secure a majority in parliament, according to results released on state television.
Boko has not yet spoken since the results.
Analysts said that mounting socio-economic grievances, particularly among young people, were the downfall of the BDP, which has governed the small southern African state since independence from Britain in 1966.
Source: Reuters
