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President Mokgweetsi Masisi was born on July 21, 1962.
Between 1984 and 1987, he worked in the education sector.
In 1989, he studied at graduate level at Florida State University (FSU), USA, specialising in Social Studies Education and Instructional Systems Design.
He attained his MSc from FSU in 1990.
In 1990, he rejoined the education sector as national coordinator for Social Studies Education and Botswana’s representative for the African Social and Environmental Studies Programme, also serving as a board member for Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa.
In 1995, President Masisi joined UNICEF as Education Project Officer.
In 1999, he was awarded a Commonwealth Chevening Scholarship to undertake graduate studies in Economics and Social Policy at Manchester University in the UK.
In 2003, he resigned from UNICEF to join politics, contesting unsuccessfully for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) primaries in the Moshupa Constituency.
He remained active in politics and was elected Deputy Secretary of the Moshupa Branch Committee.
In 2004, President Masisi joined an International Research NGO (CIET) and focused on HIV prevention research. This job involved working and studying epidemiology.
In 2008, he won the BDP primary elections and became the party’s parliamentary candidate for Moshupa (a village situated some 100km southwest of Gaborone) and subsequently secured the position in the October 2009 general elections.
In October 2009, he was appointed Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration at the State Presidency.
In January 2011, he was appointed Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration.
He oversaw a poverty eradication programme and the expansion of broadcasting capacity by Botswana Television (BTV) and Radio Botswana.
In April 2014, he was appointed Acting Minister at the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, until the general elections on October 24, 2014.
In October 2014, he was re-elected Member of Parliament for Moshupa-Manyana Constituency and thereafter, appointed Minister of Education and Skills Development.
In November 2014, he was endorsed as the eighth Vice President of Botswana and was given the responsibility of overseeing government programmes, covering poverty eradication, economic diversification drive and employment creation.
President Masisi became the chairperson of the ruling party, BDP, in July 2015 and retained the post in July 2017.
On the April 1, 2018, President Masisi was sworn in as the 5th President of the Republic of Botswana.
President Masisi is married to First Lady Neo Jane Masisi. Their marriage has been blessed with a daughter.
Online Reporter