Boko transition: Ill-prepared civil servants spill gov't secret

On November 1, 2024, when Chief Justice Terence Rannowane declared President Duma Boko as the winner of the 2024 General Election, the government was thrown into uncharted territory. They had to facilitate a transition of power from one regime to another – something that possibly never crossed their minds, let alone planned for.

Some of the civil servants recounted how before the elections they were already working on the draft inauguration speech for the now-former president Mokgweetsi Masisi. But a day after the elections, which was a public holiday, the writing was on the wall that the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) was sweeping through the polls and poised to win.