Duma Boko

His Excellency Duma Boko
Boko in 2020
6th President of Botswana
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2024
Vice President	Ndaba Gaolathe
Preceded by	Mokgweetsi Masisi
President of the Umbrella for Democratic Change
Incumbent
Assumed office November 2012
Vice President	Ndaba Gaolathe
Preceded by	Office established
Leader of the Opposition
In office 25 October 2014 – 28 August 2019
President	Ian Khama Mokgweetsi Masisi
Preceded by	Dumelang Saleshando
Succeeded by	Dumelang Saleshando
Personal details
Born	(1970-01-01) 1 January 1970 Mahalapye, Botswana
Political party	Botswana National Front
Other political affiliations	Umbrella for Democratic Change
Spouse	Kaone Boko
Alma mater	University of Botswana (LLB) Harvard Law School (LLM)
Profession	Politician lawyer professor

Duma Gideon Boko (born 1 January 1970) is a Botswana politician and lawyer currently serving as the sixth president of Botswana since 1 November 2024 and as leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change since 2012. He served as the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly from 2014 to 2019.

Duma Boko attained the presidency of the BNF in 2010. He led the creation of the Umbrella for Democratic Change, an alliance of the main opposition parties in Botswana. He ran as the alliance's president in Botswana's general elections in 2014 and 2019. At the 2024 election, he led his party to victory and was sworn in as President of Botswana on 1 November 2024.

Early life

Despite being Xhosa, Duma Boko was born in Botswana's Central District, in the village of Mahalapye. Boko's father worked as a lecturer at Madiba Brigades. He died in 2004. Duma has a sister, Emma Boko.

In 1987, Boko studied law at the University of Botswana. He was elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC). Among his law classmates were High Court judges Michael Leburu, Key Dingake, Bengbame Sechele and Lot Moroka. After graduating in 1993, he attended Harvard Law School, where he obtained a Master of Laws degree.

Career

Boko returned to teach law at University of Botswana from 1993 to 2003, while also running a law firm. In the early 2000s, he wrote a column in the newspaper The Monitor in which he claimed that judges were not intellectually progressive. He expressed frustration that academics and judges were not doing enough research to make informed judgements.

Politics

Boko became the leader of the Botswana National Front (BNF) in 2010. His position and party membership was challenged on the grounds that when the BNF split in 2000, he had become a founding member of the National Democratic Front (NDF). If proven, this would, according to the BNF constitution, disqualify him from a leadership position in the party for three years after rejoining it. He prevailed in court. He inherited a party that was in decline under the leadership of Otsweletse Moupo.

The BNF came together with the newly formed Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), a splinter of the Botswana Democratic Party, and the Botswana Peoples Party to form the Umbrella for Democratic Change. Some BNF members were strongly against the coalition, arguing that the exercise would make their party disappear. Lawsuits against Boko and his central committee were filed before the High Court. Boko and the BNF won all the court challenges.

2014 general election

In the 2014 general election, Duma Boko led the UDC to a second-place finish in the National Assembly, winning 17 seats to the Botswana Democratic Party's (BDP) 37. Boko became the leader of the Opposition.

2019 general election

In the 2019 general election, Boko was defeated by Anna Mokgethi of the BDP in the Gaborone Bonnington North constituency. As a result of his defeat, he lost his title of Leader of the Opposition in the 12th National Assembly. Boko claimed that during the 2019 general election, there was massive vote rigging and fraud by the BDP to favour President Mokgweetsi Masisi. The current evidence is the discontinuation of election ink and an excess of voter's registration cards.

2024 general election

Despite both the Botswana Congress Party and Botswana Patriotic Front leaving the UDC, Boko's party, and the opposition as a whole, were able to take a majority of seats in the elections while reducing the long-dominant BDP to a rump of four seats. As leader of the majority alliance in the legislature, Boko became the president-elect. He was sworn into office on 1 November, with a more public ceremony held on 8 November. Boko's ascent to the presidency marked the first time since 1966, when Botswana became independent, that a former opposition party has won an election.

Presidency

President Duma Boko at Inauguration Parade at National Stadium

As president, Boko stated his intention to granting temporary work and residence permits to undocumented Zimbabweans and renegotiate economic agreements with De Beers regarding Botswana's diamond industry. In his first State of the Nation Address on 19 November, Boko said that his government would push for increased investment into solar energy, medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp. He also announced engagements with Elon Musk to extend affordable internet access nationwide through Starlink.

Publications

• Boko, D.G. (1998) Towards a Compensatory Approach to Redressing Constitutional Violations in Botswana. The Zimbabwe Law Review (ZLRev), vol. 15, (pp. 120–133). UZ, Mt. Pleasant, Harare: Faculty of Law (UZ).
• Boko, D.G. (2002). Integrating the Basarwa under Botswana's Remote Area Development Programme: Empowerment or marginalisation?. Australian Journal of Human Rights, 8 (2), pp. 153–171.
• Boko, D.G. Fair Trial and the Customary Courts in Botswana: Questions on Legal Representation. Criminal Law Forum 11, 445–460 (2000). doi:10.1023/A:1016667617539.