From athletics track to freedom square
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday October 15, 2024 11:11
However, Kebaitse has traded in track and field for political office ambitions on the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ticket. Staff Writer, CALISTUS KOLANTSHO reports (BLURB)
Kebaitse made history when he emerged victorious in the Lentsweletau-Lephepe constituency at the ruling BDP primary elections (Bulela-Ditswe). He garnered 1,358 votes against five other hopefuls including the then Member of Parliament and Assistant Minister of Education, Nnaniki Makwinja. He told Mmegi that he was the first person from Lentsweletau to be a BDP parliamentary candidate for the area. “I am a man of many firsts. I negotiated and brought Nike as a technical sponsor for the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA). I was the BAA secretary-general in two different terms, World athletics referee and the first Photo Finish judge from Botswana. I officiated in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Kenya, and South Africa in youth, junior, and senior athletics competitions. I remain the sole official to ever be chief official in Pole Vault major games from Botswana,” he said. Kebaitse said he decided to run for political office because he believes that he can play a critical role in eradicating poverty that has gripped the constituency, fighting youth unemployment, extending tourism beneficiation in the constituency and uplifting the socio-economic welfare.
He said if he wins in the upcoming General Election, he will have a voice in the National Development Plan 12, and top of his agenda is road infrastructure in the area. Kebaitse said as an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert, he will be able to assist the government with robust, resilient, and reliable ICT systems and infrastructure. “As an ICT solutions architect, I will come up with solutions geared towards assisting government, businesses, and customers to attain their will. We should generate a health system where medical practitioners will have patients' history both in private and public hospitals,” he added. Kebaitse is a seasoned ICT professional with over 23 years of experience in various technical and managerial roles. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Applied Business Computing from the University of Sunderland.
He explained that in his professional journey, he made significant contributions in diverse roles, serving as an ICT officer at the SADC secretariat and as an ICT manager for infrastructure and operations at the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC). His expertise extends to network administration and computer technician roles at the University of Botswana and the Ministry of Education and Skills Development’s Department of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (DVET). Lentsweletau-Lephepe constituency covers villages such as Gakuto, Mmatseta, Kopong, Kgope, Ramankhung, Dikgatlhong, Ditshukudu, Medie, Kweneng, Boatlaname, Shadishadi, Leologane, Motlabaki, Sojwe, and Lephepe. “As a sport expert also, I will play a crucial role in sport with a focus on grassroots development, mini-grounds for youth and school sport. We should have playing grounds for children in open spaces around the country, those are facilities that will assist us in developing sport, and there will be public spaces, free to all. There are coaches out there who are willing to assist in coaching such children, which will benefit both social and competitive athletes. Sport can create employment for a lot of people in our communities. It is not like all children are bright in academics, some struggle but are gifted in sport,” Kebaitse said.