from ODIRILE TOTENG in Gaborone, Botswana
Botswana Bureau
GABORONE, (CAJ News) – THOUSANDS of voters have taken to polls in Botswana as the Southern African country holds watershed elections on Wednesday (today).
The poll will not only have implications locally but it comes at a time countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc, previously the most stable regional grouping in the African continent, have held polls with a disputed, at times deadly outcome.
While the campaign period has largely been peaceful, there has recently been a protest over the alleged interference by neighbouring Zimbabwe, which an opposition party alleges is conniving with authorities to rig the election in favour of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) of incumbent, President Mokgweetsi Masisi (63).
It is alleged some Zimbabweans had fraudulently been registered to vote for the incumbent.
The main opposition, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), led by Duma Boko (54), has made the allegations and recently protested near the Zimbabwean embassy in the capital Gaborone this past weekend.
Another dimension to the election is the influence of former president, Ian Khama, who has thrown his weight behind Mephato Reatile (52) and the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF).
Crisis24, the security think-tank, noted elections in Botswana had historically remained peaceful.
“However, the narrowing gap between the BDP and opposition parties could lead to increased electoral tensions throughout the process,” it warned.
Boko secured over a third of the votes (30,01 percent to Masisi’s 46,45 percent) in 2019.
The thinktank believes protests are likely in the days following the election.
“Violence between opposing supporters or with security services, while unlikely, remains possible.”
Tensions have culminated in the fallout between Khama, the 71-year-old who was in power from 2008 to 2018, and Masisi, his predecessor.
Khama faces charges including money laundering, illegal possession of firearms and receiving stolen property. He argues the charges are politically-motivated.
He has been in exile for years but returned in September to fight his legal battles and campaign for his preferred candidate, Reatile.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS), based in neighbouring South Africa, noted a rise in unemployment as de-campaigning Masisi.
It rose from 36 percent to the current 49 percent.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast the economy of the diamond-reliant country to grow by only 1 percent in 2024.
The continued slowdown is mainly due to a fall in diamond production, partly offset by construction projects financed by the fiscal expansion.
– CAJ News