Politically unknown Gofhamodimo enters last lap
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday February 26, 2024 06:00
Boitumelo Gofhamodimo briefly graced the National Assembly on Wednesday as she introduced herself to a whole new environment. She got voted by 34 members while 10 legislators abstained from voting.
This comes after Kereng was dropped from Cabinet and appointed the High Commissioner of Botswana to Nigeria with immediate effect. While some expected a familiar face to replace Kereng, President Mokgweetsi Masisi instead nominated a debutant in the political game. Speaking of the political game, Mmegi has learnt that Gofhamodimo had expressed interest in the Nata/Gweta constituency but later withdrew.
A close family member confirmed that she was supposed to contest in the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) primary elections but could not discuss the details of her withdrawal. Gofhamodimo is an economist by profession. She has served in the Botswana public service and intergovernmental organisations for a period spanning over 30 years.
She started her career in the Ministry of Trade and Industry in June 1986 and served in different capacities, becoming the founding director of the Department of International Trade in September 2003. In March 2004, she was seconded to the SADC Secretariat as Chief Technical Advisor for the SADC–EU Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations until December 2008 when she was appointed by the SADC Secretariat as Director responsible for Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment, the position she held for eight years until November 2016.
Thereafter, she joined the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP - Botswana), where she was responsible for guiding the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals agenda in Botswana for two years (2018–2020), based at the Ministry of Finance.
From September 2020 to August 2022, she served as Deputy Secretary responsible for Macroeconomic Policy in the Ministry of Finance. She was later transferred to the National Planning Commission in the same position. Having been responsible for national planning at the time, she amongst other things played a significant role in the preparation of the 2nd Transitional National Development Plan. She retired from the public service in September 2023. In addition to her professional work, Gofhamodimo has been involved in economic research on matters about regional integration, women and trade, and the informal sector. She has served on several Boards, locally and regionally, including the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC); Local Enterprise Authority (LEA); Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS); and the Governing Council of the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning, based in Dakar, Senegal. She possesses a Master of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Botswana.(UB), and a Post Graduate Diploma in Economics from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Her first degree was a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Accounting obtained from the UB in 1986. Meanwhile, as much as the women’s movement is happy that Gofhamodimo has been brought to replace another woman in Parliament, they are equally concerned that women are easily disposable. “We are very happy with the decision that President Masisi made by appointing another woman. At the same time, we are concerned that women are easily targeted in politics as it has not been explained to us what Kereng has done. She was performing as a Minister and qualified. She is not the first woman to easily get kicked out,” University of Botswana (UB) lecturer and gender activist Dr Sethunya Mosime said in an interview on Wednesday. Mosime said as a gender activist, they are scared that Gofhamodimo might be kicked out the same way as Kereng without explanation.
The UB lecturer said efforts of increasing women's representation would be halted if women were pushed out and replaced by another. Another UB Gender Studies and Research lecturer, Dr Portia Loeto said: “We need political parties to also have a clear mandate so that we could see other women rising in structures. Women should not be used like tokens. As much as they participate in party structures, then there is a need for them to be empowered.” She said there is a need to be a change within the party and growth as well across all party structures. Loeto said women should not be brought to Parliament only through SEMP positions but they should be voted through party structures.