A year of power, pressure and public scrutiny. Inside: the laws that reshaped policy, the courts under strain, a government finding its footing, and the moments that defined Botswana’s most consequential political transition in decades. The year 2025 proved to be a litmus test for the new Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) government, a party faced with mounting expectations and debt.
Early policy announcements were often followed by clarifications, fuelling perceptions of uncertainty at the centre of government. Observers say the party’s biggest undoing has been a lack of a coherent communications strategy, coupled with emerging cracks within the coalition. To date, the party does not appear to have a well-coordinated responsive team outside Parliament, leaving the media and ordinary citizens with limited avenues to engage or seek redress.
This gap has fueled perceptions of detachment and unresponsiveness, further complicating the UDC’s efforts to maintain public confidence amid rising scrutiny, according to experts. Within the UDC coalition itself, signs of strain became increasingly apparent as the year progressed. Disagreements over policy priorities and appointments occasionally spilled into the public domain, raising questions about cohesion within the alliance.
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Although senior leaders dismissed talk of serious rifts, analysts noted that managing a diverse coalition while running a government presented a far greater challenge than campaigning as a united front. In his defence, President Duma Boko has asked for three years to transform the country into a “spectacular” nation, leaving the nation to ponder whether hope or frustration will define the next chapter of UDC rule.
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