African leaders descended on Gaborone last Friday to witness with excitement as advocate Duma Gideon Boko took over the reigns as Botswana’s sixth president, ending the leadership grip by the Botswana Democratic Party after 58 years.
President Nangolo Mbumba and official opposition leader McHenry Venaani were
among the attendees.
The lawyer from the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) said during his inauguration that on 30 October 2024, Botswana’s democracy was tested in a novel way.
“This government will be proactive in removing bureaucratic, unnecessarily restrictive regulations that make doing business a mountain to climb,” he stated.
Born in Mahalapye in 1969, Boko said the transformative agenda will be focused on the rebuilding of institutions for the delivery of public services in a manner that is effective and efficient, transparent and accountable.
He believes that Botswana has been born- again, and will proudly move forward and upwards.
The inauguration saw Economic Freedom Fighters’ leader Julius Malema’s ban for entering Botswana getting lifted.
In an interview with SABC before heading for the inauguration, Malema shared his excitement, saying “We are here to celebrate democracy in action in Botswana. There is no other issue which is happening in South Africa that can destabilise the organisation from coming to observe this moment.”