Botswana goes to polls

People in Botswana, where more than a third of the population is HIV positive, go to the polls today in elections that were expected to be dominated by the ruling party – like every other vote since the southern African country gained independence nearly four decades ago.

President Festus Mogae was expected to easily win a second and final term and his Botswana Democratic Party to maintain its firm majority in the country’s 57-seat Parliament.

Botswana has one of the world highest HIV infection rates, about 37% of its 1.7 million people has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Life expectancy is 39 years and the UN estimates that could drop to 29 years by 2010.

Ahead of the polls, some Botswanans said they feared they could lose government AIDS treatment programs, which Mogae has taken credit for, if the ruling party were voted out.