‘The woman of many firsts’ turns 100
Friday, October 21, 2022 | 780 Views |
![Icon: Dr Chiepe PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO & PRABOOK.COM](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://www.mmegi.bw/mmegi/uploads/images/2022/10/25/54189.jpg&w=800&q=72&f=jpg&t=1)
Icon: Dr Chiepe PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO & PRABOOK.COM
Chiepe was born on October 20, 1922. She is a former politician with the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and a renowned diplomat, having been Botswana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Nigeria as well as an ambassador to the then West Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the then European Economic Community.
Mma Chiepe, as she is affectionately known, was Botswana’s Minister for Trade and Industry in 1977 and in 1984 she became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She then later served as Minister of Education from 1994 to 1999.
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...