He was raised in a family of the politically converted who plied their trade in the opposition Botswana Peoples Party during the Phillip Matante era. The assistant Minister of Basic Education and Child Welfare hails from Gulubane in the northeast, where he attended all his primary education. He would then proceed to Francistown Senior Secondary School, where he did his whole secondary education. Trade unionism would later play a crucial role in setting up a clear path for Hunyepa, who literally rose from trade unionism to partisan party politics. His mother, Ellen Kudzimu Hunyepa, is still in Gulubane village, and is a staunch member of the BPP. His late grandmother, Sarah Dodzi, was also a staunch BPP member throughout her life in Francistown’s low-income Monarch location. His grandmother featured prominently in demonstrations organised by the late party stalwart, Matante, reflecting her political consciousness. These are some of the traits that the legislator inherited.
That family history aside, Hunyepa was introduced to politics after joining college student activism on his own volition. But the home influence was colossal, baptising and alluring for the trade unionist-cum-politician. Initially, at MCE, Hunyepa was elected the information and propaganda minister, and some months later, the justice minister was expelled from the college. Attempts to hold elections in the controversial ministry failed, and the SRC president, Given Khuta, then deployed him to run two ministries: Justice and Information. As Justice Minister, Hunyepa took the government to court twice: MCE SRC vs Ministry of Education (Attorney General) in a human rights case following the “Open Day” boycott in 1993. The other human case, which is now a gender landmark case where pregnant student teachers were suspended from college, and this was gross discrimination. As the justice minister under SRC instructions, they engaged Moupo, Dingake and Motswagole Law firm, and ultimately won the two cases.
