Duma Boko
Duma Boko | |
|---|---|
| File:"Picture of Duma Boko".jpeg | |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| Assumed office November 2014 | |
| Member of Parliament for Gaborone Bonnington North | |
| Assumed office November 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 6, 1969 Mahalapye, Botswana |
| Party | Umbrella for Democratic Change |
| Spouse | Kaone Mokganedi[1] |
| Alma mater | Harvard Law School, University of Botswana |
| Profession | Lawyer, Academic, bureaucrat |
| Human rights activist, Botswana Law Society | |
Advocate Duma Gideon Boko is a Botswana politician. He is a lawyer and jurist.[2]
Early life
His father worked as a lecturer at Madiba Brigades. Duma's father died in 2004, after raising Duma and his sister Emma.
In 1987 Boko studied law at University of Botswana (UB). He was elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC). Among his law classmates were High Court judges Michael Leburu, Key Dingake, Bengbame Sechele and Lot Moroka. After graduating, in 1993, he furthered his studies at Harvard Law School.[3]
Career
He returned to teach Law at UB from 1993-2003,[4] while operating a law firm. In the early 2000s Boko wrote a column in The Monitor in which he claimed that judges were not intellectually progressive. He expressed frustration that academics and judges were not doing enough research to make informed judgments.
Between 2005 and 2006 Boko was part of the legal team representing Basarwa who were challenging their relocation from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). The judgment that was passed on December 13, 2006 was a 50/50 outcome for both sides. In 2007 Boko defended two men facing the death penalty, Michael Molefhe and Brandon Sampson.
He was a member of the Law Society of Botswana (2006-2007). He was a member of the Board of Governors of Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV-Aids. He was a member of the Boards of Directors of local Companies.
Politics
Boko became the leader of the Botswana National Front (BNF) in 2010. His position and party membership was challenged on the grounds that when the BNF split in 2000, he had become a founding member of the National Democratic Front (NDF). If proven, this would, according to the BNF constitution, disqualify him from a leadership position in the party for three years after rejoining it. He prevailed in court. He inherited a party that was in decline under the leadership of Otsweletse Moupo.
The BNF came together with the newly formed Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), a splinter of the Botswana Democratic Party and the Botswana Peoples Party to form the Umbrella for Democratic Change. Some BNF members were strongly against the coalition, arguing that the exercise would make their party disappear. Lawsuits against Boko and his central committee were filed before the High Court. Boko and the BNF won all the court challenges.
2014 General Elections
In the 2014 general elections, Duma Boko led UDC to a narrow win of the State House. UDC was the second largest party to win seats. Boko became the leader of the Opposition.
References
- ↑ "Boko shows off his fiancee". The Midweek Sun. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ↑ MAWARIRE, TELDAH (23 October 2014). "We're on the government's hit list - Botswana opposition leader". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ↑ Mathala, Sharon (September 8, 2017). "The loo flushes away BMD'S woes". The Voice. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ↑ "President Duma Boko". Umbrella for Democratic change. UDC. Retrieved 6 October 2017.