Botswana’s upcoming presidential election is shaping up to be its most competitive yet, with the ruling party facing a challenge from smaller rivals boosted by the vigorous support of an embittered ex-president.The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has governed since independence from Britain in 1966 and its candidate, Mokgweetsi Masisi, is the favourite to win.There are four presidential candidates from whom the southern African country’s more than one million registered voters can choose on October 30.- Mokgweetsi Masisi: Incumbent – The eloquent US-educated former school teacher was handpicked by Ian Khama to take over at the end of his maximum two-term limit as president in 2018.Masisi was elected at the 2019 polls with 52 percent of the vote. He quickly reversed numerous government policies, including a ban on trophy hunting, and fired the intelligence chief, a key Khama ally. It was the start of a public and enduring feud.During Masisi’s first term, Botswana’s economy weakened and unemployment rose to around a quarter. Critics allege corruption and mismanagement, but the arid country has also been battered by drought and weaker sales of diamonds, a key export.Masisi, 63, has moved Botswana closer to China and is an ally of neighbouring Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa. – Duma Boko: Left-wing alliance – The main opposition alliance aiming to unseat the BDP is the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), a coalition of left-leaning parties which took nearly 36 percent of the vote in the 2019 elections.Since then its make-up has changed.But its presidential candidate is again the well-groomed human rights lawyer, Duma Boko, 54, also leader of the Botswana National Front.Boko has put the creation of “meaningful, decent, well-paying jobs” at the centre of his campaign and raised questions about the transparency of the election commission.The UDC went to court to have the results of the 2019 general election thrown out over “irregularities” but the case was dismissed.- Mephato Reatile: Close to ex-president – When Khama’s feud with Masisi led him to quit the BDP in 2019, some of his supporters also broke away and created the populist Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF). At elections months later, the party won four percent of the ballots. This year it is expected to fare better, boosted by the energetic campaigning of the charismatic Khama who returned from three years of exile in September 2024.However the BPF has regional rather than national support and was not able to field as many candidates as other parties, limiting its reach.The party’s leader and presidential candidate is Mephato Reatile, 57, a long-time ally of Khama, 71, who is barred by the Constitution from running for another term.- Dumelang Saleshando: Social democrat – Dumelang Saleshando, 53, heads the social democratic Botswana Congress Party (BCP) which won 15 percent in 2019, when it was part of the UDC. It quit the coalition in 2023, complaining of internal dysfunction, in a blow to the opposition’s chances on Wednesday.
