University of Botswana’s jolly academic, Professor Gilbert Sekgoma, is no more.
Sekgoma passed away this week following a long illness. He was born in 1953 at Maitengwe village in the Central District.
Professor Sekgoma was one of a few leading authorities in Foreign Policy and International Relations studies.
He joined the University of Botswana in 1979 as a Staff Development Fellow (SDF) at a time when the bulk of the University was manned by expatriate scholars in almost all departments. At age 26, the young Sekgoma was one of the pioneers of SDFs to be trained to take up lectureship positions as locals.
He left Botswana for Canada in 1980 where he pursued both his Masters and Doctorate studies. He returned home with PhD in History from Dalhousie University in 1985.
He was so hard working that barely six years after returning from his studies abroad he had already been elevated to the position of Senior Lecturer.
Eight years after, he was further promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 1999.He also served at length as Head of Department for the History Department.
He has demonstrated his academic prowess by producing a host of publications comprising journal articles, book chapters, and books.
He has also carried out a number of consultancy briefs for government and parastatals, such as the Ministry of Education and Botswana Institute of Public Policy Analysis.
Sekgoma, while a fervent reader of Marxism, was a member of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPCC). At some point, he served as the church’s deputy chairman for the Gaborone branch.
He will be remembered not only for his extensive knowledge and loaded vocabulary but by his unpaired sense of humour.
He will be buried in Serule, some kilometers from Selebi Phikwe.
