Archibald Mooketsa Mogwe (29 August 1921 – 25 February 2021) was a politician and diplomat in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. A member of parliament from Kanye, Mogwe served as the

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

from 1974 to 1984, and as the Minister of Mineral Resources and Water Affairs from 1985 to 1994, before serving as Ambassador to the United States. He was appointed to the latter post on 13 November 1995 and presented his credentials on 6 February 1996. Mogwe also played an important role as a facilitator in the Inter-Congolese Dialogue. Early on, he made his mark as the first Permanent Secretary to the Office of President Sir

Seretse Khama Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE (1 July 1921 – 13 July 1980) was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980. Born into an influential royal famil ...

. With his first wife Lena Mosele Senakhomo (d. 1992) he had three children, daughter, Maleta Luna-Rosa Mogwe (b. 1954)(whom was married to the son of Rev. Albert Alfred Frank Lock, the second nd longest servingSpeaker of the National Assembly in Botswana and a missionary for the LMS); son, Hugh Lehlohonolo Moabi Mogwe (b. 1956 d. 2012); and daughter

Alice Mogwe Alice Bahumi Mogwe (born 14 February 1961) is a Botswana, Motswana activist and lawyer. She is the founder and director of the human rights organization Ditshwanelo. In 2019, she was elected to a three-year term as president of the Internationa ...

(b. 1961). From 1997 until her death in 2020, Mogwe was married to Botswana’s first female professor, Serara Selelo-Mogwe. Mogwe has six granddaughters, one grandson and two great-grandchildren. He was known for his quick wit. Once, attending a SADCC conference in Lusaka, he was approached by Zambia's Finance Minister, who attempted a put down with "ah, my friend Mr Mogwe, the Minister for Water Affairs in Botswana. What are you doing here as a minister without portfolio; everyone knows Botswana has a no water resources." Archie, in rapid riposte, and after a second of contemplative thought, responded with "Much the same as you, my dear friend, the Minister of Finance for Zambia." He died on February 25, 2021, at the age of 99.

Honours

* Awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on the eve of Botswana's independence in 1966

References

1921 births 2021 deaths Ambassadors of Botswana to the United States Botswana diplomats Foreign ministers of Botswana Government ministers of Botswana Members of the National Assembly (Botswana) People from Kanye, Botswana 20th-century Botswana politicians {{Botswana-politician-stub