Botswana’s Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe will double as finance minister, new President Duma Boko said on Monday, announcing the first ministerial positions in his cabinet.

In a shock election result earlier this month, Mr Boko’s Umbrella for Democratic Change coalition ousted the party that had ruled the southern African country for nearly six decades.

Analysts said mounting economic grievances, particularly among young people, contributed to Mr Boko’s landslide victory.

High on Mr Gaolathe’s to-do list will be lifting economic growth, which the International Monetary Fund projects will slow to one per cent this year mainly due to lower diamond production.

“We are in a dire economic and financial situation. He has a huge job in his hands. He has to steer us through these choppy and turbulent waters,” Mr Boko said during a press conference, referring to Gaolathe.

Mr Boko also named an opposition lawmaker as deputy health minister and an independent lawmaker as deputy agriculture minister.

He has not yet revealed the new mining minister, a job that is especially closely watched as Botswana is the world’s top diamond producer by value.

Mr Boko told reporters that more cabinet appointments would be announced in the coming days.

(Reuters/NAN)