Phandu Tombola Chaka Skelemani (born 5 January 1945)CV at Ministry of Foreign Affairs website
. is a Motswana who is the current speaker of the

National Assembly of Botswana The National Assembly is the legislative body of Botswana's national government. With the President, the National Assembly forms Botswana's unicameral Parliament. It is advised by the Ntlo ya Dikgosi: a council of chiefs which is not a house of P ...

. He served in the government of Botswana as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 2008 to 2014. A member of the ruling

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 ...

(BDP), Skelemani is a Member of Parliament in the

and a member of the Pan-African Parliament from Botswana, and he served as Attorney-General of Botswana from 1992 to 2003.

Career

Skelemani was born in Mapoka Village. He earned a degree in law from the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland"Mogae appoints cabinet -Ten new faces - Five women"
, BOPA, November 10, 2004. and worked in the civil service for 30 years,"Campaign for F/town East hots up"
BOPA, September 11, 2003. beginning when he became a State Counsel in 1973."Skelemani says people deserve to know"
BOPA, 23 October 2003. Subsequently he became Senior State Counsel in 1975, Principal State Counsel in 1978, and Deputy Attorney-General in 1980. He was appointed as Attorney-General in 1992; in that capacity, he advised the Cabinet and attended Cabinet meetings. When Joy Phumaphi resigned from Parliament in August 2003 to become Assistant Director-General of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

, Skelemani in turn resigned from his post as Attorney-General Richard P. Werbner, ''Reasonable Radicals and Citizenship in Botswana'' (2004), Indiana University Press, page 25. and stood as the BDP candidate in the by-election held in Phumaphi's former constituency, Francistown East. In campaigning for the seat, Skelemani pointed to his background in the area, saying that this would enable him to represent it well in Parliament. Skelemani won the by-election and took his parliamentary seat in November 2003. A year later, on November 9, 2004, he was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration. Skelemani was moved to the position of Minister for the Administration of Justice, Attorney General's Chambers,

Botswana Defence Force The Botswana Defence Force (BDF, tn, Sesole Sa Botswana) is the military of Botswana. The main component of the BDF is the Botswana Ground Force; there is also an air wing and a riverine patrol contingent attached to the ground forces, with 10 ...

, Police, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime, and Security in January 2007. When

Ian Khama Seretse Khama Ian Khama (born 27 February 1953) is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence ...

took office as President on 1 April 2008, he appointed Skelemani as Minister of Foreign Affairs instead. On November 5, 2019 he was elected as speaker of the National Assembly of Botswana by the parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skelemani, Phandu Tombola Chaka Living people 1945 births Defence ministers of Botswana Foreign Ministers of Botswana Justice Ministers of Botswana Members of the National Assembly (Botswana) Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Botswana Government ministers of Botswana Botswana Democratic Party politicians University of Botswana alumni People from North-East District (Botswana) Speakers of the National Assembly (Botswana)

Career

See also

References