Boitshepo Bolele, new BOCONGO boss

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Monday October 25, 2010 00:00

Bolele is the newly appointed executive secretary of the Botswana Confederation of Non Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO), the mother body of NGOs in the country. Joining the organisation is a dream come true for her as she always had a life-long ambition to empower impoverished communities.

'I am coming at a time when there is a new circle in development. I am very happy. The NGO sector allows us to drive the development agenda at the level of the people. This is something I am comfortable with,' she says. At BOCONGO, she will be pushing the development agenda. Capacity building is another issue she will be dealing with at the organisation. 

'These are issues that I am familiar with, as I have been dealing with them,' she says.

But at BOCONGO she will be able to deal with them holistically. She will also be able to influence government policy towards development issues.  Bolele says BOCONGO will enable her to build regional integration outside government but with people's participation. Working for the organisation will allow her to motivate people to participate in globalisation.  It will enable people to become global citizens.  She confides that BOCONGO will provide her with the capacity to be very useful to the country.  With her strong background in business, she intends to work as a bridge between the civil society and the private sector. 

'I had my feet in the private sector.  I have arrived at BOCONGO at the right time, when we are talking about the corporate social investment.  We want to marry the private sector and the civil society.  I am the perfect midwife for corporate social responsibility,' she says. Bolele welcomes the government's role in eradicating poverty.

Poverty eradication, she says, is addressed at the highest level (office of the Vice-President). To her, this really shows how serious the government is in their intention to deal with poverty. 

'I have come at a time when we see the president interacting with communities, which is something that is encouraging.  I am coming to BOCONGO at the right time,' she muses. 

Bolele's mandate at BOCONGO will be to strengthen the organisation's membership.  Her brief will include negotiating space for NGOs and assisting in resource mobilisation.

One of her deliverables will be re-positioning and re-branding the organisation.  'This is an organisation  that will give me space to grow.  It will allow me room for creativity.'

She revealed that her first AGM with the organisation will be held on Friday (October 29).  'I am joining BOCONGO when the world is recovering from economic recession.  Change is in the air,' she declares. She says there are new leaders both in the country, region and internationally.  'I have come at a time when our leaders are re-defining their development programmes. It is at a time when we can add value.  It allows us to be part of the conversation.'

This will not be the first time that Bolele will be dealing with an NGO.

Some years ago, she was involved in running a youth development organisation. The organisation dealt with youth economic empowerment.  Bolele has also been involved in drafting youth educational programmes at regional level. She was also a member of the Southern Africa women's business association when she left development work to deal in business consultancy.  But she was still involved in capacity building.

Bolele holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in computer science and worked briefly in the United Kingdom before she came back home.

Although she was a programmer her boss always told her that she was meant for the business world. 'I was young but I brought a lot of business to the company.'  This was a turning point in her career as she realised that she was meant for business and development.   One of the local companies that Bolele worked for was Grant Thornton.  She says this was the company that contributed to the development of her career. 'They awakened the entrepreneurial flair in me.  I learnt to interpret life in terms of business and economic terms,' she says about her stint with the company.  Bolele also started her own consulting company called First Mortgage that deals with financial advice. To her in as much as it is meant as a business venture it is also aimed at capacity building.

Bolele has lost both her parents in the past two years.  'It is a strange thing not to have parents,' she says in a solemn tone.  But being a spiritual person, she has not lost hope.   'When you don't have parents you belong to the community.  It comes naturally,' she says.  This is the same community that she is intending to serve diligently.

Bolele says in her work as a community development activist she is inspired   by Graca Machel, who is the wife of Nelson Mandela the former South African president.