A new dawn in the midst of fear: The political climate in Botswana ahead of 2019 :: Mmegi Online

Change is near; change is imminent. This is the echo coming from Botswana’s opposition fanatics and their leaders. Political scientists and the youth also seem to be in consensus. Botswana is pregnant with hope that the opposition will usurp power in 2019 elections. There is a reason for that, a palpable one.

The reason resides in the fact that at the helm of this hope are three young politicians in their 40’s. Botswana National Front’s (BNF) Duma Boko; a supremely talented Harvard trained lawyer. Ndaba Gaolathe of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) is a graduate of Wharton Business School with two degrees in Pure Mathematics and Finance while Dumelang Saleshando of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is a Political Science and Economics graduate of the University of Botswana.

Motlatsi Molapisi of the Botswana Peoples party (BPP) is the oldest of the pack in his 70s, with an impressive track record in opposition politics. These leaders are a new generation in charge of new formation fittingly called Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).The UDC contested the 2014 general elections, and got a combined 16 seats. The BCP garnered only 4 seats from a 57 constituency demarcated national parliament.

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