≡

Botswana to hold elections on October 23 (Guardian)

Editor3

Mokgweetsi Masisi, Botswana's president, reacts during an interview in Gaborone, Botswana, on Monday, May 14, 2018. Botswana is the worlds biggest diamond producer after Russia, and most of its gems are mined by Debswana, a 50-50 joint venture between the government and De Beers. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has ordered general elections on October 23, as tensions rise with his estranged predecessor, Ian Khama, the man who put him in the top job.

Khama, whose father led the southern African country to independence, has accused Masisi of becoming an autocrat and threatening the country’s reputation as a beacon of stability in a troubled continent.

Masisi has called for “the holding of the 2019 General Elections to fill the 57 National Assembly vacancies and 490 local government vacancies,” Osupile Maroba from the national election commission said late Friday. Read more

Exit mobile version