BDP reveals surprise package in Palapye
Kungo Mabogo, a woman with aspirations of becoming the next legislator for the Palapye Constituency under the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ticket, is closer to achieving her dream after being declared the sole candidate by her party.
Mabogo publicly declared her ambition 15 years ago in an interview, expressing her desire to become a Member of Parliament for the area. Now, only the voters stand between her and stepping onto the parliamentary stage in November.
So far, having surpassed the vetting process, Mabogo becomes the first woman to contest the General Elections for Palapye constituency. Former cabinet Minister, Dr Sheila Tlou, who went to parliament on a Specially Elected ticket, lost the Bulela Ditswe contest to Master Goya.
Mabogo joins a few women across the political divide who will be contesting against hundreds of men come the October general election. She is not a stranger and does not need much introduction. She is fresh from an international engagement, having worked in Windhoek, Namibia at the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Secretariat as a Communications Manager. SACU consists of five countries being Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. She served for two terms which amounted to eight years.
Holding an executive post enabled her to serve all the five Heads of State and Government and their respective Ministers of Trade and Finance. She also worked closely and directly with Permanent Secretaries representing the Ministries of both Trade and Finance in all the five countries. Mabogo is well decorated, armed with Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations and Mass Communications obtained from Creighton University in the USA and Masters Degree in Leadership and Change Management from Leeds University in UK, as well as a Leadership Programme qualification from Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Her professional career spans over two decades having started working for Debswana Mining Company in Gaborone before moving to Jwaneng Mine. She later got seconded to Morupule Coal Mine tasked with promoting the visibility and functions of the mine. In Morupule, she was able to expose the leaders and elders of Palapye to the underground mine activities which was happening for first time. She contributed in educating the community of Palapye and Batswana about the role of the mine and its contribution to the economy of Botswana and its people.
Mabogo was later sent back to Debswana head office for a year to assist the newly promoted Managing Director, Blackie Marole in settling and ensuring his visibility in his new role. Upon completion of that, she was assigned to join a team that was transiting Botswana Diamond Valuing Company (BDVC) to Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB), where they appointed Sight-holder companies to cut and polish diamonds locally.
Mabogo joined the then Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA) which was responsible for promoting investment and import and export of products and services in and out of Botswana.
She was later tasked to work with the then Vice President, the late Lt. General Mompati Merafhe, for a period of one year in Shanghai, China to attract investors from all over the world and educate them about Botswana. Upon completion of this assignment, she was part of the team that merged BEDIA with Institution of Finance Services Centre (IFSC) to become the current Botswana Investment and Trade Authority (BITC). She later moved to a team that started the organisation called Botswana Fiber Network (BOFINET), that succeeded in providing bandwidth around the country for easy access to network.
Besides work and academic qualifications, she has experience and exposure to representing the country in Sweden through PACT in 1996 advocating for the Human Rights for HIV victims. She served as a deputy chairperson for the Botswana National Youth Committee (BNYC) board, committee member for the Council of Southern Africa Football Association (COSAFA).
Mabogo says the experience with SACU taught her how to work with multi racial communities. “An experience like that makes you a better person and you learn emotional intelligence, negotiation skills, discipline, patience, loyalty, communication, commitment and more.”
She says Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has asked for candidates that could work with him diligently and effectively, and those he could take to cabinet especially eligible women and youthful candidates. ”I believe I meet the set criteria,” Mabogo said.