Quett Ketumile Joni Masire

1980 - 1998: President of the Republic of Botswana
Born July 23, 1925 at Kanye in the Southern District of Botswana, married with six children, born between 1958 and 1969. He trained as a teacher at Tiger Kloof, the Former British Bechuanaland, thereafter founded the Seepapitso Secondary School in Kanye. He is an enthusiastic farmer and maintains a keen interest in humanitarian issues.

Political Career
1966: Member of Parliament, later Vice-President and Minister of Finance and Development Planning.
1980: Succeeded the late Seretse Khama as the second President of the Republic of Botswana
1984: Won the Presidential elections under the ruling Botswana Democratic Party. During his tenure of office, he was Chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and still serves as Co-Chairperson of the Global Coalition for Africa.
March 1998: Retired from public office.

Humanitarian and Development Issues
1998 - 2000: Served as Chairman of Eminent Personalities of the OAU investigating the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
1999: Appointed Facilitator for the Inter-Congolese National Dialogue with the objective to bring about a new political dispensation to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in terms of the Lusaka Cease-fire Accord.

Recognition and Awards include
Honorary Doctorates from St John University, De Paul University, Williams College, Sussex University, University of Port Elizabeth, Ohio University.

1989: Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger,.
1991: Honorary Knighthood of the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG) UK).
1995: Namibia's Order of the Welwitschia

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