Jokate Mwegelo is a Tanzanian politician and Secretary General of the Chama cha Mapinduzi’s Youth Wing (UVCCM).Before being appointed, she was an entrepreneur and a media personality. In July 2018, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania Dr.

John Pombe Joseph Magufuli John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Ministry of Works (Tanzania), Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to ...

appointed Hon. Jokate Mwegelo as the new District Commissioner for

Kisarawe Kisarawe is one of the six districts of the Pwani Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the East by Dar es Salaam Region, to the north by the Kibaha District, to the east by the Mkuranga District, to the south by the Rufiji District and to the we ...

district in Pwani region. She was then appointed as the District Commissioner for Temeke District in

Dar es Salaam Region Dar es Salaam Region (''Mkoa wa Dar es Salaam'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions and is located in the east coast of the country. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land and ...

in July 2021. Hon. Jokate Mwegelo was appointed by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania Dr.

Samia Suluhu Hassan Samia Suluhu Hassan (born 27 January 1960) is a Tanzanian politician who has been serving since 19 March 2021 as the sixth (and first female) president of Tanzania. She is a member of the ruling social-democrat Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party ...

as the District Commissioner for

Korogwe District Korogwe District also known as Korogwe District Council is one of the eleven districts of Tanga Region in Tanzania. The District covers an area of . It is bordered to the northeast by the Lushoto District and north by Bumbuli District. Korogwe D ...

in Tanga Region in January, 2023 . She is a member of Chama Cha Mapinduzi, previously served as Secretary in charge of Public Relations and Mobilization UVCCM - youth wing of Chama Cha Mapinduzi. In October 2023, Jokate was appointed by the Central Committee of Chama Cha Mapinduzi led by President

to be Secretary General of UWT - Women’s Wing of Chama cha Mapinduzi. https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/jokate-mwegelo-appointed-uwt-general-secretary-4386126 She is one among Tanzania's youngest influential leaders and entrepreneurs. In 2017, Hon. Mwegelo was included in

Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists of people under 30 years old issued annually by ''Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

in Africa. In August 2017 she was named by Africa Youth Awards among the 100 Most Influential Young Africans. The 2018 Most Influential Young Tanzanians by Avance Media place her as the third most influential young Tanzanian and the most influential young Tanzanian under the category of Law and Governance .

Early life and education

Mwegelo was born on 20 March 1987, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where her parents worked. She was raised in

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

. She started primary school at Olympio Primary School, where she served as a prefect . She attended St. Anthony Secondary School from January 2000, where she received her ordinary secondary education, graduating in 2003 with a Certificate of Secondary Education. She served as Assistant Head Girl from 2002 to 2003. In 2002, during the Model United Nations General Assembly in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

she was appointed to serve as the Secretary General. In march 2004, she joined Loyola High School in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to pursue her Advanced Secondary Education, graduating in February 2006 with an Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education. Mwegelo served as a prefect responsible for coordinating all club activities at the school from 2004 to 2005. She was selected as the head prefect for the school from 2005 to 2006. In April 2005, at the inter commonwealth essay competition organized by the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

she was awarded 2nd position for best essay. Nationally, she ranked 2nd among female candidates in the English language examination. Mwegelo attended at the University of Dar Es Salaam from 2007 to 2010 where she graduated Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Political Science B.P.S. and Philosophy with a G.P.A of 4.0. Mwegelo was the founder and coordinator of the University of Dar Es Salaam United Nations Association Chapter in 2008. With other students and partners, Mwegelo organized various initiatives including the Stand Up Campaign towards the

MDGs The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...

in 2009, commemoration of the International Day of Peace with

United Nations Information Centres United Nations Information Centres (UNIC) is an organization which was established in 1946. Its headquarters is situated at New York, USA, and it currently works worldwide in 63 countries. These centres are managed by the United Nations to exchan ...

in 2009 and the Mwalimu

Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lak ...

Intellectual Festival (Kigoda cha Mwalimu) at the University of Dar Es Salaam in 2010. Mwegelo also served as the President of the Tanzania International Student Week in 2009.

Leadership and political career

Mwegelo is a member of Chama Cha Mapinduzi the dominant and ruling party in

. She was appointed as the Acting Secretary of Public Relations and Mobilization in the youth wing of the ruling party UVCCM. She was among the 450 members of the party that contested to be elected to represent Tanzania as a member in the East African Legislative Assembly. From a young age Mwegelo has shown leadership trait, starting as a prefect in primary school. She went on to serve as Assistant Head Girl at St. Anthony Secondary School from 2002 to 2003, during the time she was also appointed as the

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

for Model United Nations General Assembly in

in 2002. In high school at Loyola High School from 2004 to 2006 she served as a prefect in charge of coordinating club activities at the school from 2004 to 2005. In 2005 she was elected as Head Prefect until 2006 when she graduated high school. Mwegelo leadership career excelled during her time in university where she was engaged in various activities including being vice-president of marketing and public relations for the International Students Week in Tanzania from 2007 to 2008 and in 2009 she became the President of the International Students Week in Tanzania. Mwegelo was the project creative coordinator of United Nations Association initiative together with

UNIFEM The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, french: Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme, ) was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the International ...

on 16 days against violence on women and girls in 2009. She was appointed as the local ambassador for the Live Global Run water initiative in 2010. In 2011, she was appointed as Ambassador for the Walk for Water initiative that benefitted 100,000 villagers in

Bagamoyo Bagamoyo, is a historic coastal town founded at the end of the 18th century, though it is an extension of a much older (8th century) Swahili settlement, Kaole. It was chosen as the capital of German East Africa by the German colonial administra ...

, 2011. On 28 July 2018, President

John Magufuli John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and wa ...

appointed her to serve as the District Commissioner of

Kisarawe District Kisarawe is one of the six districts of the Pwani Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the East by Dar es Salaam Region, to the north by the Kibaha District, to the east by the Mkuranga District, to the south by the Rufiji District and to the we ...

and was sworn in on 3 August 2018.

Entrepreneurship

Kidoti Company

In October 2012, she officially launched her company goes by name Kidoti Loving Company Limited, the launch went together with introduction of her new hairline. The company did well and in December 2014, she founded Kidoti. She partnered with RainBow Shell Craft, from China. Her company produces slippers, wigs, school bags and other fashion accessories, under the Kidoti brand. Her company introduced the ''Be Kidotified'' campaign to empower students. Her firm has worked with

Mohammed Dewji Mohammed "Mo" Gulamabbas Dewji (born 8 May 1975) is a Tanzanian billionaire businessman and former politician. He is the owner of MeTL Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s. Dewji served as Member of the Tanzanian P ...

. In March 2017, Clouds Media Group honored her with the Malkia wa Nguvu Award in business innovation in Tanzania.In 2017 she was nominated at Africa Youth Awards for ''Entrepreneur Of The Year'' and her company Kidoti was nominated for ''Startup Of The Year.'' Through Kidoti company, Mwegelo has organized various social and community activities. In 2015 the Kidoti inter-school Bonanza was organized and hosted by Mwegelo which was a talent and networking bonanza featuring 20 schools from

Dar Es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

region and involved over 4000 students. In the same year, Mwegelo also organized Manjano Dream Makers mentorship program. In 2016, the 'Be Kidotified' campaign was launched with the aim of improving the learning environment in public schools, basketball and netball sport facilities were launched at Jangwani Girls Secondary School.

Awards, honors and nominations

Awards and nominations

Honours

* 2011: 25 Young African Women Leaders, Milead Fellowship Program * 2017:

in Africa,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

Africa * 2017: 100 Most Influential Young Africans, Africa Youth Awards

Work, volunteering and personal

Work

Mwegelo was a TV presenter for the show Bongo Star Search for the 2006/2007 season which was a singing competition seeking to discover music talent from across Tanzania, she also hosted TV Shows and live events from 2006 to 2007. In 2010, Mwegelo became a regular contributor for The Citizen magazine in Tanzania for Saturday's edition covering women and girls related issues. In 2012, she started managing Kidoti Brand and Company to which still manages up-to-date.

Volunteering

Mwegelo volunteers through Tanzania Youth Cultural Organization and Tanzania Mitindo House that deals with taking care of children affected by

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Personal life

She is the daughter of Urban and Bernadette Ndunguru, she has a sister named Desi Mwegelo and brothers named Magavilla Constantine and Martin Kolikoli comes for a family filled with basketball; his cousin Louis Charles Ngonyani played for Pazi Basketball Team for four seasons (1994–98). Her other cousin David Wilbard Ngonyani is still an active player in the ACAMIS and ISAC league of Beijing, China. Mwegelo uses her spare time to catch up with world politics and is a reading enthusiast. Through her personal experiences she writes journals, articles and short stories. She loves engaging with the youth through participating in youth initiatives, motivational talks and outdoor games like basketball.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mwegelo, Jokate 1988 births Living people Tanzanian actresses People from Dar es Salaam Tanzanian beauty pageant winners University of Dar es Salaam alumni Open University of Tanzania alumni 21st-century Tanzanian actresses