General elections were held in Botswana on 8 September 1984.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p109 Although the result was a fifth successive landslide victory for the Botswana Democratic Party, which won 29 of the 34 elected seats, the elections saw the opposition

Botswana National Front The Botswana National Front (BNF) is a social democratic political party in Botswana. It has been the main opposition party in Botswana since the 1969 elections. The party achieved its greatest electoral success in the 1994 elections, when it ...

make gains, winning both seats in the capital Gaborone and take control of all urban councils except Selebi-Phikwe in the simultaneous

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

Background

Following the death of President Seretse Khama in 1980, the 1984 elections were the first contested with Quett Masire as leader of the BDP.

Electoral system

The 34 elected members of the National Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies, an increase of two from the

1979 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1979. Africa * Algeria: presidential election * Benin: parliamentary election * Botswana: general election * Gabon: presidential election * Ghana: presidential election * Kenya: general election * Mal ...

. Following the 1981 census, constituencies were redrawn and Gaborone was split into two.

Campaign

A total of 82 candidates contested the election as party representatives, with the BDP being the only party to contest all 34 seats. The

ran in 27 constituencies, the Botswana People's Party in 13, and the

Botswana Independence Party The Botswana Independence Party (BIP) was a political party in Botswana that existed from 1962 to 1994. The BIP was founded in 1962 by former members of the Botswana People's Party (BPP) and was led by Motsamai Mpho. During its existence, the ...

and Botswana Progressive Union in four.Botswana: The September 1984 General Election
EISA The campaign was focussed on economic issues linked to the effect on the diamond industry of droughts and recession.Botswana
IPU

Results

Aftermath

Following the elections, Botswana National Front co-leader

Kenneth Koma Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a by ...

went to court to have the result in the

Gaborone South Gaborone South is a constituency in Gaborone City represented in the National Assembly of Botswana since 2019 by Dumezweni Mthimkhulu, a BDP MP. Constituency profile The constituency was originally created in 1984, following the division o ...

constituency overturned; Koma had lost to Vice-President

Peter Mmusi Peter Simako Otlaadisang Mmusi (born 16 May 1929, died October 1994) was the Vice-President of Botswana from 3 January 1983 until 1992. He also served as the Minister of Finance from 1980 to 1989, and as the Minister of Local Government and Lands ...

, but an unopened ballot box was discovered after the final count. The High Court annulled the result and a by-election was held in December in which Koma defeated Mmusi.

References

{{Botswana elections Elections in Botswana Botswana Election Election and referendum articles with incomplete results