Kenneth Koma

Gaobamong Kenneth Shololo Koma (* 1924 in Mahalapye , Bechuanaland , today: Botswana ; † 2007 ) was a Botswana politician of the Botswana National Front (BNF).

Life

Koma began his political career in the early 1950s during the Bamangwato Crisis, when he and a group of young, well-educated men became active supporters of Seretse Khama, who was in exile in London , against his uncle Tshekedi Khama . During the 1950s and early 1960s he spent most of his time in South Africa , Great Britain , Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union . During his stay abroad, he completed a law degree and earned a doctorate in lawin the Soviet Union. He was secretary of the Association of African Students in Czechoslovakia and married a Czech woman during his stay there. In 1965 he returned to the then British protectorate of Bechuanaland , where on March 1, 1965 , he witnessed an overwhelming victory for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) founded by Seretse Khama , which won 28 of the 31 seats in the with 113,167 votes (80.4 percent) National Assembly received.

Annoyed by this result, Koma held a series of meetings in Mochudi between April and October 1965 , during which he attempted to form a coalition of anti-BDP groups. The Botswana National Front (BNF) emerged from these meetings . Koma, proponent of scientific socialism , tried in the following years to unite a broad spectrum of Botswans. In the elections of October 18, 1969, the BNF won three of the 31 parliamentary seats with 10,410 votes (13.5 percent), although Koma missed entry to the National Assembly due to the party-internal rivalry with the chief of Bangwaketse Bathoen II . In the elections of October 26, 1974, in which the BNF received 7,358 votes (11.5 percent) and two seats, as well as the elections of October 20, 1979, in which the BNF won 17,480 votes (13%) and also two seats , he was also not one of the elected candidates of his party.

It was only in the elections of September 28, 1984, in which the BNF won 46,550 votes (20.4 percent) and four of the 38 seats, that Koma was elected a member of the National Assembly for the first time and represented the Gaborone South constituency until 2004 . In the elections of October 7, 1989, the BNF received 67,513 votes (26.95 percent) and three of the 38 seats, as well as 104,435 votes (36.9 percent) and 13 of the now 44 seats in the elections of October 15, 1994 the National Assembly. In the 1990s he changed the party's orientation towards social democracy . In 1998 there was a split in the BNF in order to achieve the removal of Komas as party leader. He then dismissed the rebellious faction , which from then on operated as the Botswana Congress Party , and was able to keep his position after a ruling by the High Court . In the elections on October 16, 1999, the now weakened BNF remained the strongest opposition party and won six of the 44 seats with 87,457 votes (25.95 percent).

In 2000, Koma announced his resignation as chairman of the Botswana National Front and nominated his previous deputy, Peter Woto, as his successor. However, Outsweletse Moupo was able to prevail against Peter Woto at the subsequent party congress and was thus elected chairman of the BNF as Koma's successor. Then Koma, Woto and other disappointed BNF members formed the National Democratic Front (NDF). However, due to his poor health, he largely withdrew from political life after leaving the National Assembly in 2004.

He was a cousin of politician Mable Pinnie Mpa and long-time member of the National Assembly, Gaolese Kent Koma , who were both married to each other.

Web links

• Fred Morton, Jeff Ramsay, Part Themba Mgadl: Historical Dictionary of Botswana , Scarecrow Press, 2008, p. 181, ISBN 0-8108-6404-5 .