The president of the Republic of Botswana is the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

, as well as the commander-in-chief of the

Botswana Defence Force The Botswana Defence Force (BDF, ) is the military of Botswana. The main component of the BDF is the Botswana Ground Force; there is also an air wing and a riverine patrol contingent attached to the ground forces, with 10 Panther airboats and 2 ...

, according to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. The president is elected by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, the sole house of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, and is usually the leader of the largest party. The Constitution limits the president's tenure to two five-year terms. The first president to be elected under the constitution was

Sir Seretse Khama Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, Order of the Bath, GCB, Order of British Empire, KBE (1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980) was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1 ...

, who was the prime minister from 1965 until 1966, after which he served as president until his death on 13 July, 1980. Sir Seretse was the subject of the 2016 film "A United Kingdom", which highlighted his fight against Apartheid-style policies that sought to prevent him from assuming his role as Chieftain of his tribe while Botswana was still the Protectorate of Bechuanaland. The most recent incumbent is

Duma Boko Duma Gideon Boko (born 31 December 1969) is a Motswana politician and lawyer who is 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 Leader of ...

, who was elected by the National Assembly on 1 November 2024 following the 2024 general election. The president may be removed by a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

Presidential term

The president is elected to a five-year term that runs concurrently with the term of the

. Previously, a president could be reelected any number of times. In 1997, under the second president, Quett Masire, term limits were imposed on the office for the first time. Since 1998, the president has been limited to a total of 10 years in office (equivalent to two full terms), whether successive or separated. The first president for whom the term limits applied was

Festus Mogae Festus Gontebanye Mogae (born 21 August 1939) is a Motswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004. After ten ...

, who was required to leave office for good in 2008. Each president gets a guaranteed pension.

Election

During the general election campaign, all candidates for the National Assembly declare whom they endorse for President when they lodge their nomination papers. If a party or

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

secures an absolute majority of elected MPs in the legislative elections, its presidential candidate, always the party or alliance's leader, becomes the new president immediately without the need for an investiture vote. In practice, since legislative elections are conducted through

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

, elections have always produced single-party majority governments ever since the first general election in 1965 and thus a presidential election by Members of Parliament has never happened. The president is elected by the members of the

following a general election that produces a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...

. In the event that no candidate secures a simple majority, the National Assembly elects the president through secret ballot, with a simple majority of the total number of MPs (excluding 'specially-elected' MPs) required to win. This election is limited to candidates whose party at least 10 MPs. If, after three rounds of voting, no candidate is elected, two additional rounds may be authorized by the speaker, if it is deemed that a successful election remains possible. Should these rounds also fail to produce a winner, or if the speaker declines to authorise further rounds, the National Assembly will be dissolved and

snap elections A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...

will be held. The president's survival in office is dependent on whether their government enjoys the

confidence Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...

of a majority of the National Assembly. They can be removed by a

, prompting their resignation or if not, the

dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy ...

if the president refuses to do so, which triggers a snap election.

Presidential powers

The president is the head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief of the

. The rights, responsibilities and remuneration of the president are enumerated in Chapter III of the

and subsequent acts passed by the National Assembly. The executive powers of the republic are vested in the president, who appoints various officials to positions listed in the Constitution, the most significant of which are the cabinet ministers and Justices of Appeal of the Court of Appeal. The president should consult the Cabinet on respective matters of policy. The president could assent or withhold his assent on bills passed by the National Assembly. If the National Assembly passed the bill again the President shall assent or withhold his assent within 21 days, or could dissolve the National Assembly. The president is accorded the constitutional powers to declare state of public emergencies and grant pardons or commutation with the advice of the Advisory Committee of Prerogative of Mercy.

List of officeholders

;Political parties ;Symbols Died in office

Timeline

References

Works cited

* * * * {{Heads of government of African states b

Presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *''Præsidenten ...

1966 establishments in Botswana