Botswana Electioneering Fanfare

Electioneering for Botswana's 2014 polls, which is soon coming to a close, has seen considerable fanfare, with many candidates – for the first time in the history of the landlocked southern African country – chartering campaign buses and helicopters.



Duma Boko, leader of the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), has taken the lead in this regard, flying all over the country in chartered helicopters.



He has shown up unannounced at several UDC rallies, surprising many, including supporters of rival parties.



Dumelang Saleshando, president of the opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP), has also procured himself a chopper for electioneering.



The two parties have also launched major bus campaigns.



The BCP was the first to unveil a 65-seater bus, featuring the image of a huge, smiling Saleshando on both sides.



Saleshando has so far travelled to more than 53 villages and addressed 101 rallies using the new bus.



The UDC brought along four big campaign buses featuring the party's colors and giant pictures of Boko; his deputy, Ndaba Gaolathe; and the party's late secretary-general, Gomolemo Motswaledi.



Justice Kavahematui, a veteran reporter, described this year's election campaigns as "out of this world."



"The bus campaign has been used in Europe, and, not long ago, by the opposition in Zimbabwe," he said.



Over the years, only the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has had the financial muscle to buy vehicles for every constituency, now 63 in total.



Opposition contenders, for their part, either walked on foot, hitch-hiked or used their own – often dilapidated – vehicles.



Botswana, considered a paragon of African democracy, will hold its tenth national elections on Friday.



Around 823,000 of the country's 1.12 million eligible voters have registered to cast ballots in the upcoming race.



The election will be a litmus test for the BDP, which has ruled the country since it achieved independence in 1966.



Three main parties – the BDP, the UDC and the BCP – are set to contest 57 parliamentary seats and 489 council seats.



Under Botswana's first-past-the-pole system, incumbent President Ian Khama, the BDP leader, Boko and Saleshando will all vie for the presidency.



Early election results are expected on Sunday, with the BDP tipped to win the hotly-contested race.



An African Union election observer mission, led by former Malawian president Joyce Banda, is already on the ground in Botswana.



-Celebrities-



The UDC, especially in the months leading up to the elections, has invited several notable personalities, whose presence could not escape public attention.



Early this year, Boko invited his Hollywood actor friends Rick Yune and Jennifer Bell for a well-publicized visit. They took to the skies in a chartered helicopter, visiting UDC posts across the country.



Months later, at the grand launch of the UDC campaign, the government placed the two actors on the list of those who needed visas to enter the country.



Just last week, Boko invited former Bulgarian president Petar Stoyanov. The two appeared unannounced at a rally in Thamaga, a village located some 40km west of capital Gaborone.



There have been rumors that the UDC could present a major celebrity in the remaining two days, especially in tightly-contested constituencies.



The ruling BDP has, to a large extent, stuck to its usual campaign strategy of providing constituencies with vehicles. The party currently has 63 vehicles – one for each constituency.



It has also utilized advertising space in newspapers and bought mass mobile-phone messaging systems.



Political commentator Antony Morima says the campaign strategies adopted by the three parties would go a long way in deciding who wins.



"The parties were well-organized and had campaign managers for elections and presidential spokespeople. The media was able to follow them because of the solid issues they raised," he said.



"Their rallies were also able to pull the crowds," added Morima.



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