IDM Country Director receives Honorary Doctorate

In less than a year since she received an accolade of Africa’s Most Influential Woman in Business and Government, Dr. Onalenna Seitio-Kgokgwe will receive an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bolton in the United Kingdom today (Wednesday 17^th July 2019). She is the Country Director at the Institute of Development Management (IDM) Botswana Campus.

Dr Seitio-Kgokgwe is being recognised for her outstanding contribution in education in accordance with the ordinances for the Degree.

“IDM has made notable achievements in assisting government to transform the economy through human resource capital. We are indeed gratified and honored to have our very own recognised at the highest level. This award is the highest academic distinction available within any university in the UK, and as such, we congratulate Dr Kgokgwe for this great feat,” said Richard Malikongwa, IDM Regional Director and Chief Executive.

He explained that IDM and University of Bolton have a partnership that has seen successful delivery of Masters and Degree programs in Project Management, Supply Chain Management and Accountancy. “IDM continues to confer many graduates under these programs. I must mention that due to her diligence and meticulousness in facilitating this collaboration, IDM continues to be the envy of many in the industry”.

This decoration is also coming at a time when IDM continues to grow the quest to reach out to vast communities across Botswana and make its products and services accessible to them. According to the Regional Director, this agenda is passionately driven by Dr Kgokgwe and her team, adding that the recent collaboration between IDM and the Serowe Institute of Health Sciences is just one of the many success stories pioneered by her.

An educator, practitioner, trainer and leader in the research arena, Dr Kgokgwe is also passionate about quality health issues having worked in the health sector for over two decades. She has previously coordinated the Healthcare Leadership Management Development Programme to improve the quality of leadership and ensure efficient service delivery in the health sector. This was positively received as it empowered decision-makers to appreciate the impact their decisions had on the overall outcomes of health services.

A registered nurse, midwife and nurse practitioner, Dr Kgokgwe has served as Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Health Services. At one point she led Botswana Family Nurse Practitioners programme where she was instrumental in enhancing the programme to position Botswana as Centre of Excellence on Primary Health, where countries across African continent came to benchmark best practice.

Dr Kgokgwe obtained her PhD in Public Health from the University of Otago in New Zealand. She is a fellow of the Afya Bora Global Health Leadership programme. Her research interest is in the areas of health system performance, health sector reforms, health services and policy. She has authored and reviewed a number of articles in international journals. In 2018, she received Africa’s Most Influential Award in Government and Private Sector Country Winner award for SADC North 2018/2019 at the prestigious CEO Global Pan African Awards celebrations in Lusaka, Zambia.