Ben Magowe remembered

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Monday November 29, 2010 00:00

 

This is an extract of a poem entitled 'Hope' by the Ben Ontiretse Magogwe, a sad reminder of a man who until a week ago was larger than life.

While the Magogwes' have lost a son, father, husband, uncle and nephew, Botswana's literary fraternity has also lost an essayist and poet.

'Without a loss, how could there be gain' he asks rhetorically in Hope, as if to console those he leaves behind although it is hard to fathom how this particular loss will benefit those who will sorely miss him.

Magogwe was indeed a man who stood for what he believed in. A man who knew there are no mistakes but lessons in life, an optimistic man, he just sums it up by saying 'so when you are down, know then you shall be up'.

It's no wonder that multitudes assembled at Goo Matsapa ward, in the capital of Bakwena on Saturday to pay their last respects to this fallen hero. The 52-year-old who succumbed to a cardiac arrest described by a friend, Colombia Boitshoko as open and loving, made quite an input in the agricultural and banking sector.

'He stood for what he believed in,' Boitshoko said.

Upon completing his Bachelor Degree in 1982 he joined the department of Agricultural Planning and Statistics at the Ministry of Agriculture.

'In 1984 he went to the USA for further studies. He completed his Msc in Agricultural Economics at North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University in 1987 and came back to work as an Agricultural Economist at the Ministry of Agriculture,' an obituary entailed in the funeral programme reads.

Magogwe later joined Barclays Bank of Botswana as a manager of various branches in Gaborone as well as in Francistown. He left the banking sector in 2004 to venture into self-employment.

Over the last two decades, he was involved in the Mmegi group of companies as an investor and director. As a member of Mmegi Publishing Trust, he sat on the Finance and Audit Committee of the Board of Dikgang Publishing Company, and as director of CBET (Pty) Ltd - publishers of the Botswana Guardian and Midweek Sun newspapers. He was also chairman of that company's Finance and Business Development Committee.

At the time of his death, he was a newly (Nov 18 2010) appointed director to the board of Mmegi Investment Holdings - the parent company of all Mmegi related companies.

Speaking after the burial service, the deceased's uncle encouraged the bereaved, friends and well-wishers to trust in God at the time of this great loss.