Gaborone, 16 March 2023 – It is with great sorrow that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs learnt of the sad news of the passing on of former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Meshack Lefiri Mokone, on 13 March 2023, in Gaborone.
Mokone served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Permanent Secretary from 1992 to 1996, continuing an illustrious career in public service which started in 1972 as a Livestock Marketing Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture. An Agricultural Economist by training, he rose through the ranks to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture in 1986.
In 1989 he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Lands, a position he held until 1990, when he was transferred to the then Ministry of Commerce and Industry as Permanent Secretary.
In 1992 he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position he held until 1996, when he retired from the civil service. During his years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he demonstrated the kind of motivation and leadership that we all admired. Like many senior public officers of his generation, Rre Mokone or Mesh as he was fondly called, embodied character, professionalism, integrity, courage and a deep passion for serving that can only be matched by a few. As his illustrious CV demonstrates, his life was clearly not for himself but for his country.
His impact will not end with his passing, for it is a legacy that will be etched in our hearts and those of generations to come. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its network of diplomatic missions around the world, we remain profoundly grateful to the Mokone Family for lending their son to serve the Nation. His passing is not only a loss to the family but a great loss to the Nation at large.
In the end, the Botswana government said, “May God the Almighty be the source of their strength and comfort during this difficult time. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”