Botswana: a handover “without drama or acrobatics”, according to the new president

“Our democracy demonstrated that it was mature, the transfer of power took place without drama,” underlined the 54-year-old human rights lawyer, a historic opponent elected last week in the largely desert country of southern Africa. .

Alongside his predecessor Mokgweetsi Masisi, 63, in a characteristic red tie and wide smile, the jurist said: “his excellency called me and assured me that he would cede power and here we are today without any apprehension and without acrobatics.

“If we were in other countries, these things would not have happened. We would be plunged into civil unrest, with the incumbents refusing to accept the results,” he argued in the presidential offices in Gaborone.

Botswana “sends a message to the continent as well as to the rest of the world” to say that “democracy is alive, in action”, he added, paying tribute to the attitude of his predecessor. “For him, democracy is not just praised, it is lived. “If anyone had any doubts about this, including myself, they are put to rest.”

Described as scrupulously honest, Duma Boko embodies a form of renewal, driven by his charisma as a speaker, and a neat style like his parting drawn with clippers.

Read also: Elections in Botswana: the president admits defeat

He said he took on “with humility” the “considerable responsibilities and expectations” that are at stake in the country with its sluggish economy.

Addressing senior officials and civil servants of the State, he dismissed any notion of cronyism: “We will operate on merit” and “merit does not care whether you are my friend or not”.

Mr. Masisi, for his part, stressed that democracy was “not an abstraction”. His party, in power since independence from the British in 1966, must now “learn” how to “be an opposition minority”, he admitted.

He had conceded defeat well before the full results were announced. “Citizens spoke out in numbers and transparently. We bowed to the results. We lost.”

“The responsibility was enormous, because we had never experienced a regime change before,” he insisted, inviting everyone to “respect” the new president.

Botswana, known for its diamond mines and for being home to the world’s largest population of elephants, is also the oldest democracy in southern Africa.