A trio of academics argues that the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) sowed the seeds of its own electoral defeat by mishandling the long-awaited constitutional reform process as it ignited a nationwide backlash that ultimately cost the party power in 2024.
In a newly published paper titled ‘Reforming the Constitution in a Developing Country: How Mismanaging Constitutional Reforms Led to Electoral Loss in Botswana,’ political scientists Prof. Zibani Maundeni, Dr. Batlang Seabo and Dr. Letshwiti Tutwane trace the downfall of the BDP to what they describe as a “catastrophic failure of consultation” under former president Mokgweetsi Masisi’s administration.
There's more to this story
But to keep reading, we need you to subscribe.
Investigative journalism is an indispensable part of a healthy society, but it's also expensive to produce. We are reliant on subscriptions to fund our work, and while you can enjoy most of our stories for free, a small number of premium features are reserved for subscribers.
You can subscribe for one week, a month or a full year - the choice is yours.
Save 77% on an annual subscription. Click here to find out how.
Existing subscribers can log in to keep reading here.
