Botswana swears in Duma Boko as new president

Boko, 54, inaugurated just nine days after his party beat the Botswana Democratic Party, which ruled for six decades.

Botswana has sworn in Duma Boko as the country’s new president after his landslide election victory kicked out the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which had been in power for nearly 60 years.

On Friday, Boko, 54, took the oath in front of several thousand people in the national stadium just nine days after his Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) crushed the BDP at the ballot box.

“For nearly three score years, our democracy remained unbroken, unproven and untested. On the 30th of October this year, together, we tested this democracy,” Boko said in a speech.

“It is with pride, and perhaps even a tinge of relief, that I can proudly say we have passed this test with flying colours,” he said to cheers from the crowd.

“Together, we usher in a new political dawn.”