Mokgweetsi Masisi | |
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8th Vice President of Botswana | |
Assumed office 12 November 2014 |
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President | Ian Khama |
Preceded by | Ponatshego Kedikilwe |
Member of Parliament for Moshupa |
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Assumed office 2009 |
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Personal details | |
Born | 1965 |
Nationality | Motswana |
Political party | BDP |
Alma mater | Florida State University |
Profession | Teacher |
Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi is a Motswana politician who has been Vice President of Botswana since 2014. He has also served as Minister of Education since 2014, and previously he was Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration from 2011 to 2014. He was first elected to Parliament in 2009.
Masisi unsuccessfully sought the nomination of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) to stand in Moshupa constituency in the 2004 general election. However, he obtained the BDP nomination for the same seat prior to the 2009 general election and won the seat. He was promptly appointed as Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration in October 2009. After a little more than a year as an assistant minister, he was appointed as Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration in January 2011. Masisi became Minister of Education and Skills Development in an acting capacity in April 2014; he was re-elected to his seat in Parliament in October 2014, and he was appointed as Minister of Education and Skills Development on 28 October 2014.
Masisi was appointed by President Ian Khama as Vice President of Botswana on 12 November 2014, while remaining in his post as Minister of Education. As Vice President, it is considered likely that he will succeed Khama as President in 2018.