04 Aug 2025

The agricultural sector, traditionally the backbone of the livelihood of Batswana in their countryside environment, responsible for food security, has been privileged to have had a man of the stature of Dr Micus Chimbombi steward its ministerial portfolio.

These were the sentiments expressed by Dr Moetapele Letshwenyo, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Sub-Regional Representative for Southern Africa, who served under Dr Chimbombi for 24 years when they were public servants at the then Ministry of Agriculture.

Dr Chimbombi, who died on July 26 after a long illness, and was laid to rest in Makopong on August 3, Kgalagadi District, served in the ministry from the 1980s, rising to the ranks of permanent secretary by the time he exited the civil service in 2015, and passed away as the minister of what is now the renamed Ministry of Lands and Agriculture.

“It would be incomplete to speak of the trail of this ministry without mentioning the huge contribution Dr Chimbombi made over the years. He understood the challenges and offered solutions, he worked from the ground to policy level, offering the same effort and energy to his tasks,” Dr Letshenyo told BOPA in an interview.

Dr Letshwenyo revealed that when he joined the ministry in 1991, Dr Chimbombi became his supervisor and mentor, and they worked closely together until they left the ministry in 2015.

“As such, I worked under him from the time he was senior veterinary officer, and later, when I became deputy director of Veterinary Services and thereafter, deputy permanent secretary, I was directly deputising him. He was a good leader who was quite determined and passionate,” Dr Letshwenyo stated.

In the early 1990s, they were tasked with vaccinating the country’s animal herd for Foot and Mouth, rabies, cattle lung disease and other animal diseases, and Dr Chimbombi would display leadership and passion, often joining his teams in the field to do the work.

Then in 1995, the Ngamiland Cattle Lung Disease Disaster occurred, a significant outbreak of the contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP or “cattle lung disease”) ravaging the country’s North West, the first such outbreak in over 50 years, led to the culling of over 300 000 herd of cattle. After the 1995 detection of CBPP and the 1996 culling in Ngamiland, Dr Letshwenyo reveals that under Dr Chimbombi’s leadership they undertook the restocking of cattle in the area, to compensate farmers and mitigate the crisis.

“Another disease that had previously been under control had been Foot and Mouth, which had been a challenge in the early years of independence, but was brought under control after the establishment of the Botswana Vaccine Institute in 1979, and subsequent vaccination programmes. But in the aftermath of the Zimbabwe land resettlement programme of the early 2000s, villages bordering Zimbabwe experienced a foot and mouth outbreak, the first in 21 years,” Dr Letshweyo said.

Dr Chimbombi once more displayed his leadership skills as the ministry undertook campaigns to deal with the Foot and Mouth outbreak at Matsiloje, Matopi, Bobirwa, Pandamatenga and Ngamiland in the early 2000s.

“Dr Chimbombi was very decisive, Foot and Mouth requires decisive action and we were fortunate to be led by someone who would think on their feet when we reported to him. He also cared about staff welfare, at some point he would be having 300 staff working under him, he would be interested if they are remunerated well for all the work they did outside working hours, if they lodged well during vaccination campaigns, and ensure that they do get time off to spend with their families,” Dr Letshweyo said.

When he rose to the ranks of Permanent Secretary, Dr Letshwenyo, his then deputy, noted that Dr Chimbombi was very solid on policy matters, stood his ground when he knew he was right and relented if offered good advice. Dr Chimbombi was also a staunch Christian, even when we had long trips he would seek the nearest congregation of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) to worship in,” Dr Letshwenyo said.

Unfortunately, Dr Chimbombi spent the past few months battling illness, and Dr Letshwenyo reveals that he had remained positive through his illness. We were very fortunate to work with such a gentleman who worked hard for the country and left a huge mark in the agricultural sector, Dr Letshwenyo said. ENDS