Mompati Merafhe
Mompati Sebogodi Merafhe (born June 6 1936[1]) is a Botswana politician, currently serving as Vice-President. He is a retired Lieutenant-General and was Botswana's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2008.
Merafhe was born in Serowe. After a career in the army, he retired from it and entered politics in 1989. He was first elected to the Central Committee of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in 1991 and has remained on the body since then.[1] Merafhe has been the Member of Parliament for Mahalapye West since the 1994 election. He was elected for a third time in the October 2004 general election, receiving 5,429 votes against 1,664 for Abigail Mogalakwe of the Botswana National Front (BNF) and 975 for Thomas Ookeditse of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).[2] Besides serving as Foreign Minister, he also served a period as Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration.[1]
When Ian Khama took office as President on April 1 2008, he appointed Merafhe as Vice-President. Merafhe was approved as Vice-President by Parliament on the same day, receiving 48 out of 56 votes, with no votes against, two spoiled votes, and six abstentions; he was immediately sworn in.[1] The same day, Khama explained to the BDP caucus that he did not intend for Merafhe to ultimately succeed him as President; he envisioned eventually replacing Merafhe with another Vice-President who would in turn succeed Khama in 2018.[3] Merafhe was not given a ministerial portfolio as Vice-President, although it was suggested that he might be tasked with project implementation across ministries.[4]
Merafhe is married and has five children.[1]
Merafhe spoke out against Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, for having a "flawed election". He was the first African country leader to speak out against the Zimbabwean presidential election. [5]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Merafhe is new vice president", BOPA, April 2, 2008.
- ^ "Merafhe thanks Mahalapye electorate", BOPA, November 10, 2004.
- ^ Gideon Nkala, "VP Merafhe will not be President", Mmegi Online, April 2, 2008.
- ^ "Khama fires five ministers", Mmegi Online, April 2, 2008.
- ^ "Botswana denounces Mugabe victory". BBC. 2008-7-1. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
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External links
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