Botswana’s leader announces deputy pick after shock election win

GABARONE, Botswana

Botswana’s new president, Duma Boko, assumed office after his alliance’s shock victory in last week’s elections and announced economist Ndaba Gaolathe as his pick for deputy.

Boko, 54, succeeds Mokgweetsi Masisi, with the official handover of the presidency taking place at a ceremony in Gaborone, the capital, on Monday.

The new leader of the diamond-rich southern African nation was sworn in last week, after his Umbrella for Democratic Change secured 36 of the 61 seats in parliament.

Gaolathe is the leader of the Alliance for Progressives party, which joined the UDC last year. The new parliament will decide whether to approve his appointment as vice president at its first sitting, a date for which has yet to be set.

Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party was widely expected to retain its majority in the October 30 election, but it won just four parliamentary seats — down from 38 five years ago — as voters punished it for an economic downturn triggered by a collapse in the diamond market that generates the bulk of government revenue.

Botswana is the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by value, with almost all of its gems mined by Debswana — which is jointly owned by the government and De Beers, a unit of Anglo American Plc.