Bots gears up for polls

GABORONE – Africa’s economic star Botswana is heading for elections this week that are set to be won by the party of President Festus Mogae, who has led a multi-front offensive on AIDS in the world’s second-worst affected country.

While the outcome is seen as a foregone conclusion, the question mark hanging over the nationwide polls on Saturday is whether Batswana themselves will be able to muster the enthusiasm to go out and vote. “We are going to win these elections – that’s what I have come here to tell you,” Mogae, an economist trained at Britain’s Oxford University, told supporters at a rally of his Botswana Democratic Party, which has been in power since independence in 1966.Mogae is appealing for a strong turnout to win a clear mandate for a final five-year term that will serve to shape his legacy as the third president of this nation of 1,6 million people.Botswana, the world’s leading producer of raw diamonds, has under the governing party used its mineral wealth to propel the southern African country from a poor agriculture-based nation at independence to a middle-income country.Per capita GDP in 2003 stood at US$3 800 in 2003, one of the highest in Africa.A former British protectorate called Bechuanaland, Botswana has also enjoyed uninterrupted civilian rule since independence.- Nampa-AFP”We are going to win these elections – that’s what I have come here to tell you,” Mogae, an economist trained at Britain’s Oxford University, told supporters at a rally of his Botswana Democratic Party, which has been in power since independence in 1966.Mogae is appealing for a strong turnout to win a clear mandate for a final five-year term that will serve to shape his legacy as the third president of this nation of 1,6 million people.Botswana, the world’s leading producer of raw diamonds, has under the governing party used its mineral wealth to propel the southern African country from a poor agriculture-based nation at independence to a middle-income country.Per capita GDP in 2003 stood at US$3 800 in 2003, one of the highest in Africa.A former British protectorate called Bechuanaland, Botswana has also enjoyed uninterrupted civilian rule since independence.- Nampa-AFP