Michael Kitso Dingake (born 11 February 1928, in

Bobonong Bobonong is a town in the Central District of Botswana 80 km from Selibe Phikwe town. Bobonong has a population of around 19,000. The Babirwa tribe can be found in this town. The Botswana Pink semi-precious stones can be found in Bobonon ...

) is a

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

Life

Educated in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, Dingake joined the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

in 1952. In 1966 he was sentenced to 15 years on

Robben Island Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...

. Released in 1981, he worked at the

University of Botswana The University of Botswana, popularly known as UB, was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. T ...

. In 1992 he entered national politics, becoming vice-president of the

Botswana National Front The Botswana National Front (BNF) is a social democratic political party in Botswana. It has been the main opposition party in Botswana since the 1969 elections. The party achieved its greatest electoral success in the 1994 elections, when it ...

in 1993 and entering the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

as MP for

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

Central in 1994. In 1998 he led the breakaway

Botswana Congress Party The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is a political party in Botswana. The BCP was founded in 1998 in a split from the Botswana National Front, with most of the BNF's sitting Members of Parliament joining the new party after a leadership dispute w ...

, but lost his seat to Margaret Nasha of the

Botswana Democratic Party The Botswana Democratic Party ( abbr. BDP) is the governing party in Botswana. Its chairman is the Vice-President of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane, and its symbol is a lift jack. The party has ruled Botswana continuously since gaining independenc ...

in 1999. Retiring from politics in 2004, he became a weekly columnist for the newspaper ''

Mmegi ''Mmegi'' is an English-language national newspaper in Botswana, with occasional articles or comments in Setswana. Established in 1984, it is now published daily online and weekly on print format by Dikgang Publishing House in the capital, Gabor ...

''.

References

External links

Mr. Michael Kitso Dingake
''Kutlwano Magazine'' 1928 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (Botswana) Botswana journalists Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo Botswana National Front politicians Botswana Congress Party politicians Academic staff of the University of Botswana Botswana people imprisoned abroad Inmates of Robben Island Botswana expatriates in South Africa {{Botswana-writer-stub