09 Nov 2026

President Advocate Duma Boko has announced the appointment of Professor Lekoko Kenosi as the new Director General of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS).

President Boko made the announcement when delivering his State-of-the Nation Address on November 9.

Professor Kenosi brings to the position more than three decades of professional experience spanning military service, academia, archives and records management, information governance and institutional leadership.

His career has taken him across Botswana, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where he has held various academic and leadership positions, including establishing and managing archival institutions.

Prior to the announcement, Prof. Kenosi served as Botswana’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to China, Vietnam, Singapore, Pakistan and Malaysia, a diplomatic assignment he took up in 2026.

He previously served as Associate Professor and University Archivist at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates between 2022 and 2026, providing academic and university archival leadership across its Dubai and Abu Dhabi campuses.

His international career also includes significant roles in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where he was involved in establishing and leading archival and records management institutions.

Between 2018 and 2022, he served as Founding Head of Archival Collections at the Office of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser at Qatar Foundation in Doha.

 

Before that, he was Founding Head of Archives and Manuscripts at Qatar National Library from 2015 to 2018, having earlier served as Founding University Archivist and Records Manager at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia between 2012 and 2015.

His professional journey began in Botswana, where he served as a lecturer in Archives and Records Management at the University of Botswana’s Department of Library and Information Studies from 1999 to 2012.

He also served as a Founding Staff Development Fellow in the university’s Archival and Records Management programmes between 1997 and 1999.

Beyond his academic and international experience, Professor Kenosi has a military background, having served in the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) between 1991 and 1994.

During his military service, he was an Officer Cadet in 1991 before serving as Platoon Commander in C Company, 24 Infantry Battalion at Donga Military Garrison under the 2nd Brigade in 1992.

In 1993, he served as Adjutant of the BDF contingent to the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (UNOMOZ), a peacekeeping mission in which Botswana participated.

He subsequently served as Second in Command and was involved in establishing the BDF Archives and Records Management Department at BDF Headquarters in 1994.

Academically, Prof. Kenosi holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, United States, which he obtained between 2001 and 2009.

He also holds a Master of Archival Studies from the University of British Columbia in Canada, completed between 1997 and 1999, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History from the University of Botswana, which he obtained in 1991.

His academic journey also earned him a United States Fulbright Scholarship in 2001 to pursue his doctoral studies.

His contributions to research and academia include 22 published journal articles and book chapters, alongside 54 professional conference paper presentations and attendances.

He has also served as an external and internal examiner for 13 doctoral and master’s dissertations and supervised one PhD dissertation, 10 master’s theses and 10 bachelor’s research dissertations.

His professional engagement extends to international scholarly platforms, having served on the editorial boards of the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives and the Journal of the South African Society of Archivists.

He has also reviewed academic work for several publications, including the Yale University Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, Information Technology and People, Elsevier journals and Mousaion, the University of South Africa’s information studies journal.

Among his recognitions are the 2001 Fulbright Scholarship, the 2010 AMIA Award from the Carolyn Hauer International Fund and a UNESCO/IASA Travel Grant in 2010.

Away from his professional and academic pursuits, he holds a second Dan black belt in Oikado Wing Chun Kung Fu. ENDS