Finalist
Government Award
Dr Athalia Molokomme
Dr Athalia Molokomme, Botswana’s first woman attorney general, laid the foundation for gender equality in Southern Africa. As founding head of the gender unit at the Southern African Development Community secretariat from 1998 she was the main driver behind the adoption of the Gender Protocol.
She was appointed a judge in 2003 and attorney general in October 2005. She believes that stronger and effective regional blocs in Africa can promote sustainable development through better governance and the rule of law.
Nominated for a Drivers of Change Award by Canada-based Petronilla Ndebele, Molokomme is a widely respected scholar within and outside Southern Africa. She obtained her bachelor of law degree from the University of Botswana in 1981 and a master’s degree from Yale Law School in the United States in 1983.
From 1988 to 1991 she studied for a PhD in law at Netherlands’ Leiden University, graduating with a published thesis entitled Children of the Fence: The maintenance of extramarital children under law and practice in Botswana. She taught law at the University of Botswana from 1981 to 1996 and has researched and published extensively in the fields of family law, women and law, customary law and employment law.
For the past two decades she has been a regular speaker at national, regional and international conferences, workshops and seminars. Molokomme has served on many boards of organisations that advocate for women’s rights. Colleagues said she has great leadership skills and is always willing to go the extra mile to give advice to a co-worker.
At the ceremonial opening of the 2011 Legal Year in Botswana in February, she voiced her concern about crimes of violence against women. “Such violence is not only a violation of human rights, it also contributes to the high divorce figures and the instability of the family unit.” She has served on several boards, commissions and professional organisations at national, regional and international level and is a founding member of organisations such as Emang Basadi, Women and Law Society in Southern Africa and Women, Law and Development International.
Among the awards she has received are the Women’s Human Rights Award from Women, Law and Development International in 1993 and the Presidential Order of Meritorious Service for Exceptional Service to Botswana in 1999. In March 2005 she was awarded the US Ambassador’s Award as one of the Vanguard Women Leaders of Botswana.
Drivers of Change judges commended Molokomme for her work in promoting gender equity, “the outcomes of which are clearly visible across the Southern African region. She has demonstrated her ability to work through strong partnerships with role players across various sectors: public, private and social,” judges said.