Diamond-rich Botswana went to the polls Wednesday, with voters concerned about high unemployment and an economic slump as the ruling party vies to extend its nearly six decades in power and hand President Mokgweetsi Masisi a second term.
Many of the one million registered voters queued for several hours to cast their ballots in the arid and sparsely populated country, which prides itself on being southern Africa’s oldest democracy, but where the same party has been in power since independence in 1966.
“It is my time to voice my opinion. I can’t wait,” said Lone Kobe, 38, who arrived at her voting venue more than three hours before polling stations opened.
Self-employed Kobe said she was voting to change a system dominated by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) that she believes benefits only a section of the country’s 2.6 million people.
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“We are seeing a percentage of the population enjoying the benefits. We are just the spectators like we are watching a movie,” she said.
Botswana’s vast diamond reserves, discovered just after independence from Britain, have driven growth and development, lifting the largely desert country out of extreme poverty.
But today it ranks as one of the most unequal nations in the world, with three-fifths of financial assets held by the richest 10 percent, according to a 2022 World Bank report.
Masisi’s first five-year term has seen unemployment rise to 27 per cent, with younger people most affected, and a downturn in growth partly linked to weakened diamond sales.
The government has also faced allegations of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement.
Masisi, 63, was elected in 2019 with around 52 per cent of the vote going to the BDP. While the party is not expected to fare much better this time, with first results due from late Thursday, commentators have raised the prospect of a hung parliament for the first time.
Masisi told reporters after voting: “I don’t want a hung parliament. But elsewhere, if that happens, parties negotiate.”
He acknowledged concerns about a decline in Botswana’s foreign reserves and weakened international diamond sales, saying the government would increase local investments as a countermeasure.
“We intend to address that by putting money into the pockets of citizens and building infrastructure,” said Masisi.
He also told election observers from Zimbabwe’s ruling party that “victory is certain”.
