AMN/ WEB DESK

Duma Boko, the presidential candidate of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), was declared Botswana’s sixth president today. Botswana’s Chief Justice, Terence Rannowane, made the announcement on national television.

According to the southern African country’s electoral law, the polling will determine 61 members of the National Assembly and 609 local councillors, with the party that holds at least 31 parliament seats to be declared as the winner.

While the counting is yet to be finalised, UDC has already secured 34 members of the National Assembly, and the ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party, got four seats.

Earlier, outgoing President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded defeat as preliminary results showed his ruling party lost its parliamentary majority after nearly six decades in power. The BDP has governed the diamond-rich Southern African nation since 1966.