05 Oct 2015

Former cabinet minister, Mr Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri and the president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ian Kirby are the only two recipients of Presidential Order of Honour (PH) which were awarded during the 49th Independence celebrations by President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama at the National Stadium last week. 

Mr Matlhabaphiri, who was the Member of Parliament for Molepolole South before the last general elections, started his career as a bank clerk in 1971 and later became a teacher at Capital Continuation Classes in Gaborone.

He then proceeded to work as a diamond sorter at the then Botswana Diamond Valuing Company (BDVC) from 1976-1979. He was appointed the general secretary of Botswana Diamond Sorter/Valuers Union. 

In 1979, Mr Matlhabaphiri, who is known as GUS in political circles, was elected MP and subsequently assistant minister of agriculture. He also served as the governor of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) until 1985. 

He served as high commissioner and ambassador to the NORDIC countries which included Romania, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia between 1985 and 1996. He was again elected MP in 1989 and served in various parliamentary committees from the public accounts committee, law reform committee, parliamentary labour relations to the International Parliamentary Union (Botswana branch) and

High Commissioner of Botswana to Namibia, Ghana and Angola respectively.  Mr Matlhabaphiri served as assistant minister of labour and home affairs, health and presidential affairs and public administration between 2008 and 2014.

He has served in several boards, clubs and church organisations. He continues to be an active member of the Botswana Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, Justice Kirby opened the first citizen private law firm in Botswana. He is the founder and vice chairperson of Mokolodi Wildlife Foundation which operates Mokolodi Nature Reserve and the Environmental Education Centre.

The centre hosts over 10 000 children each year for live in camps. Justice Kirby was the lead counsel in the Christie Commission (BHC) and IPM Commission (school books) which lead to the creation of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). He also chaired the committee to re-draw the mineral laws through which Botswana is consistently ranked as the leader in mineral exploration and development.

Justice Kirby has further served as the director of various private commercial companies including Debswana, BDVC and the mineral policy committee. He further chaired a committee to re-draw general orders governing public servants

Justice Kirby has served as the Attorney General of Botswana. He was instrumental in the restructuring of the Attorney General Chambers. He also piloted the constitutional amendment on the composition and expansion of Ntlo ya Dikgosi.

Justice Kirby was also a member of the team that re-negotiated the Jwaneng lease to bring diamond aggregation to Botswana. He has served as an ex-officio Member of Parliament and of cabinet and various parliamentary committees. Justice Kirby is currently the President of the Court of Appeal. Ends