The 10th general election is taking place in 57 constituencies, 490 polling districts and 2288 internal and 26 international polling stations, AllAfrica.com reported. In the race for political seats are the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the Botswana Congress party (BCP), Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM), Botswana People's Party (BPP), Movement for the study of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin (MELS).

BNF and BCP are seen as serious competition to BDP. In the last elections which took place in year 2008, out of the 57 constituencies, the BDP managed to capture 44, the BNF 12 and the BCP one, the report said.

The electoral commission said it is ready for elections. "I can comfortably say that certainly we have prepared. We have everything in place for the conduct of correct elections," the head of the Independent Electoral Commission, Gabriel Seeletso, told journalists in Gaborone.

Some facts

President Ian Khama, a UK-trained army lieutenant-general and son of the country's first president, is expected to win another five years in office after the elections, according to Reuters.

Botswana is the world's biggest producer of diamonds and more recently became known for Precious Ramotswe, the heroine of Alexander McCall Smith's fictional "Lady Detective" series, set in the country's capital of Gaborone.