In a Special Issue of Botswana Notes and Records, historian Barry Morton writes that even before independence, when the country was reliant on food aid and ranked among the poorest countries in the world, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) of the era believed that Botswana would one day be wealthier than its neighboring countries if the government remained frugal and used its resources properly.
And indeed for the longest time, Botswana was on the right track, in the process breaking records as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In terms of the structure by which the country was administered, Botswana was founded on a constitution anchored on representative democracy, separation of powers and the rule of law – a first for Africa at the time.
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