Gaositwe Kogakwa Tibe Chiepe

Foreign Minister Chiepe 1985 with the Botswana ambassador to the Netherlands

Gaositwe Kogakwa Tibe "GKT" Chiepe MBE (born October 20, 1922 (according to other sources: 1926) in Serowe , Bechuanaland ) is a former Botswana diplomat , politician and was not only the first female minister in Botswana, but also the first woman in her home country a university degree .

Life

Professional and political career

Gaositwe Chiepe completed her primary education in the Bechuanaland protectorate and continued her further education in Vryburg at the Tiger Kloof Educational Institute, the first secondary educational institution for today's Botswana. She then studied education at Fort Hare University , which was the only higher education institution for black Africans in South Africa until the 1960s .

In 1946, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Education), making it the first woman in Botswana to graduate from university. She then went on to study at the University of Bristol in 1948 with a Master of Arts (MA) and was once again the first woman in Botswana to complete a postgraduate degree.

On her return to Bechuanaland she entered the teaching profession in the country and was initially assistants education officer ( Assistant Education Officer ) before 1952 inspector ( Education Officer ) and then in 1963 Chief Education officer ( Senior Education Officer was). In 1965 she was appointed deputy director of the education administration, which she remained until 1967.

After the sovereignty of the country on September 30, 1966, Gaositwe Chiepe first became Director of Education from 1968 to 1969 and was then High Commissioner in the United Kingdom and Nigeria between 1970 and 1974 and was also ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and France , Denmark and Norway accredited . At the same time she was permanent representative to the European Communities (EC).

After her return to Botswana, she became a member of the National Assembly in 1974 , where she represented the constituency of Serowe South .

At the same time, she was appointed Minister for Trade and Industry by President Seretse Khama . After a government reshuffle, she became Minister for Mines and Natural Resources in 1977, a position she held under Khama's successor as President Quett Masire .

Masire appointed her foreign minister in 1984 as part of a further cabinet reshuffle . She held this office for ten years until 1994.

Most recently she became Minister of Education in 1994. After resigning from this position in 1999, she served as chair of the Commonwealth of Nations Election Observation Commission in the 1999 elections in Zanzibar . She was also an election observer for the 2000 parliamentary elections and the 2002 presidential elections in Zimbabwe .

honors and awards

She has received several awards for her services and received the Order of Merit and the Order of Outstanding Services of the President of Botswana, the Commander-in-Chief of the North Star Order of Sweden and the Order of the British Empire .

She also received honorary degrees in education from Fort Hare University , in literature and philosophy from the University of Chicago, and in law from the University of Bristol. In 2009 the University of Botswana awarded her another honorary doctorate in law.

For her commitment to strengthening diplomatic relations between Botswana and Japan , she was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Rising Sun in June 2010 . The fact that the first Tokyo Conference on African Development (TICAD) took place on their initiative in 1993 was particularly recognized.

literature

• Chiepe, Gaositwe Keagakwa Tibe , in: Jenny Uglow , Maggy Hendry: Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography . London: Macmillan, 1999 (3rd edition), ISBN 0333725735 , p. 122

Web links

• MMEGI ONLINE: Along came Gaositwe (August 28, 2009 )
• Female Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership )
• Botswana Ministers (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Sheila Keeble (Ed.), SPP Kutumela, A. Booley: The Black Who's Who of Southern Africa Today. African Business Publ., Johannesburg 1979, 1st edition, p. 105.
2. ↑ Botswana: Parliament Launches Website for e-Governance (April 3, 2009)
3. ↑ The Elections in Zanzibar October 29, 2000 ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 107 kB)  
4. ^ Zimbabwe presidential election: 9-11 March 2002 (Commonwealth Observer Group, Commonwealth Secretariat)
5. ↑ Swedish Orders, Decorations and Medals (Svenska ordnar, tecken och medaljer) (February 27, 2006)
6. ↑ UB NEWS: UB HONORS CHIEPE, MOLEMA AND CAMPBELL (October 2009) (PDF; 2.6 MB)
7. ↑ THE BOTSWANA GAZETTE: Japan honors Dr Chiepe (June 7, 2010) ( Memento of the original from January 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.