BNOC confirms new CEO
Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) on Tuesday this week announced Botho Kebabonye Bayendi as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization on a five-year contract.
BNOC has been engaging in the task of recruiting a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), following the departure of Tuelo Daniel Serufho early last year. Following the successful conclusion of the recruitment processes, the BNSC board yesterday announced the appointment of Bayendi as the new substantive CEO of the organization.
Her expertise in the corporate sector, having worked as a Chief Strategist in various companies, is seen as a key competence value to advance BNOC to the next level, according to the BNOC President, Colonel Botsang Tshenyego Bayendi is a seasoned leader, with over nineteen years’ work experience, including over a decade service as an Executive in the Botswana Parastatal and Government job market and joins the BNOC from the Botswana Investment and Trade Center (BITC).
Baeti becomes BNOC’s second CEO as she succeeds Serufho and is the first female CEO of the organization. Wedu Motswetla has been holding the post on interim basis after Serufho was appointed as the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNSC) CEO. The organization currently has four females against three men in the board, following last years’ elective general assembly.
It is the 1st time in the history of Botswana, that women recorded 57% women representation in the BNOC board. In 2017, the BNOC joined growing list of global sporting organizations in signing the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration which commits the local committee to gender equality.
“Sport is one of the most powerful platforms for promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach was quoted ahead of the 2020 Olympics. Tshenyego said it was through their commitment as the BNOC board to promote gender equality and IOC’s strategies. “This is part of what is required from us by the IOC and also is part of own strategy of 2020-2024 to promote women in sports,” BNOC President highlighted.
When giving her appreciation remarks during the press briefing on Tuesday, Baeti expressed her gratitude and said she looks forward to elevating and promoting excellence standards of the local Olympic arm, to greater heights. “I feel privileged, the level of trust you have bestowed on me I am leveraging on it. With the BNOC board support, I will not fail. I come with zero balance in terms of sport leadership and I’ll be banking on their support to achieve success goals of the organization. My goal in this task is to achieve excellence, anything that’ll be asked of my vision for the BNOC, my answer will always be excellence. As a strategist, I want to move this organization to the next level,” Bayendi shared.
According to information shared by the BNOC, Bayendi holds a Masters in Strategic Management - University of Derby; BA (Social Sciences); Dip (Statistics) from the University of Botswana. A well-developed, diverse, and continuously evolving leader groomed in several Boardrooms, reporting as a member of the Senior management team, serving as a Board Secretary, and providing performance and governance oversight as a Board Member.