11 Nov 2025

 Government has made significant strides in fulfilling its non-financial commitments outlined in the previous State of the Nation Address, which centred on restoring public trust and actively upholding the constitutional rights of all citizens.

In his second State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Advocate Duma Boko emphasised government’s commitment to competence and non-discrimination.

The President announced a series of strategic, meritocratic appointments to the judiciary and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Government also appointed a new Commander of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) and made appointments at the Attorney General’s Chambers.

New board appointments to State-Owned Enterprises (parastatals), President Boko said, had reportedly begun the process of turning them around.

He also indicated that public servants had been employed in various positions throughout different ministries, adding that they would continue to make the right appointments.

He further affirmed government’s commitment to delivering dignity and constitutional rights to all Batswana, citing a symbolic act of burying a man in his ancestral home.

The President underscored the restoration of freedom of speech and expression, noting that an enraged and frustrated population had taken to the streets on several occasions without fear of police brutality.

On one hand, President Boko said the introduction of different languages to national news broadcasts was a major step toward inclusivity.

“This is your Botswana, you are safe here, you are part of this country’s story. When the resentful accuse the UDC government of trampling people’s rights, remind them that for the first time in a long time, the rights we are enjoying in this country are not words on a fading parchment, but are tangible and real. They flow from that grand power of attorney, the Constitution of this Republic,” he added.

Addressing critics, President Boko emphasised that the rights currently enjoyed in the country were not words on a fading parchment, but were tangible and real, flowing directly from the country’s Constitution.

Meanwhile, the President confirmed that government’s future roadmap, developed after elected representatives spent months traversing the country and listening to Batswana for ideas, was firmly anchored in the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) manifesto.

“The UDC Manifesto is a social contract upon which Batswana based their decision to appoint the UDC to lead,” he stated, adding that all major policy frameworks, including the National Development Plan 12 and the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme, drew inspiration directly from the sacred and national contract.

Furthermore, President Boko said that based on valuable ideas and insights, government refined its roadmap to building, step-by-step, the Botswana envisioned by all, that of a nation of shared prosperity, dignity and sustainable growth that left no one behind.

Meanwhile, the President’s address outlined the next steps on the shared journey, including shifting the public service culture towards greater accountability, launching comprehensive economic diversification programmes, renegotiating Botswana’s position in the global diamond market and responding decisively to acute crises in the healthcare and education systems.

“There is no looking back on this journey that we have started together. We march forward and we are not tripping though we may stumble sometimes,” President Boko said. BOPA