Botswana’s election decides if a party that’s been in power for 58 years gets another term

Associated Press

GABORONE, Botswana (AP) — Polls have opened in an election in Botswana and voters are deciding if one of Africa’s longest-ruling parties stays on for another five-year term. The Botswana Democratic Party has been in power in the southern African nation for 58 years, since independence from Britain in 1966. Wednesday’s election will decide the makeup of Parliament and lawmakers will later elect the president. President Mokgweetsi Masisi, a 63-year-old former high school teacher and formerly a UNICEF employee, is seeking a second and final term. Botswana has been held up as one of Africa’s success stories as a stable democracy but is facing new economic challenges that have pushed the ruling party to concede that policy change is needed.