Masisi's SEMPs A Tough Assignment
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday November 4, 2019 11:19
While the SEMP slots have increased from four to six, the President will have a headache on this particular assignment as he has to apply a delicate balancing act to harmonise his Parliament.
There is already an outcry that there are few women in Parliament, even less youth representation, and these coupled with not enough experienced legislators with the desired skills set.
Some of the people who might make it to the 12th Parliament as SEMP are former Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Minister, Kitso Mokaila, former Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Bogolo Kenewendo, former Minister of Transport and Communications Dorcas Makgato, former Governor of the Bank of Botswana Linah Mohohlo, former Minister of Health and Wellness Alfred Madigele and Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba.
“The reason why the President is forced to pick some of the old MPs is because most of his MPs are new because majority of the old ones have lost during party primary elections, especially Cabinet ministers.
The old ones would help to guide the new ones. Again the issue of women and youth representation is one of the key ones, the President is forced to choose mostly women and two men,” the source.
The source said if Mohohlo were to be elected, she would be the first woman to become a finance minister, which would be a welcome development to women.
Mohohlo was the Governor of the Bank of Botswana from 1999 to 2016, following a 23-year career with the Bank, during which she worked in and policy areas like Board Secretariat, Human Resources, Research and Financial Markets (Departments).
She has also worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a Special Appointee. In her capacity as Governor of the IMF for Botswana, she has been a member of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC: 2000-2002), representing the Africa Group 1 Constituency, which comprises 21 Sub-Saharan African countries.
In addition to having been a member of the inaugural Botswana Economic and Advisory Council, Mohohlo serves on boards of major corporations in Botswana and abroad.
She is currently a member of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Committee on Financial Services for the Poor.
She sits in the Investment Committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund and has co-chaired the meeting of the World Economic Forum for Africa in Cape Town in May 2011.
Mohohlo, has been a Chancellor of the University of Botswana for a period of five years since July 19, 2017.