Background
Benjamin Cogo THEMA was born in October 1912 at Kanaka in the Ngwaketse district.
Benjamin Cogo THEMA was born in October 1912 at Kanaka in the Ngwaketse district.
Educated at local schools, he began teaching at Healdtown and then became assistant teacher at Iiger Kloof, South Africa. From 1937 he studied privately for 10 years in his spare time to obtain his Bachelor of Arts (Education) and Master of Arts (Education) degrees.
In 1946 he founded the Tshidi Barolong Secondary School and administered it as principal until 1955. Active participation in South African teachers’ organisations led to his appointment as general secretary of the Cape Teachers’ Union and as a member of the Federal Council of African Teachers’ Associations. After nine years as principal of Moeng College he became an education officer in 1964. In that year he went to the United States of America to attend a conference on education.
He turned to politics in 1965 and was elected to represent Lobatse and Barolong in the Assembly at the elections of March 1965. In the first cabinet under self-government he was given the portfolio of Labour and Social Services. On November 1, 1965, he was appointed Minister of Finance but six months later he returned to his first ministry.
His cabinet responsibilities were enlarged in May 1967 in a new Ministry of Education, Health and Labour. Following his re-election in 1969 he was put in charge of a newly created, separate Ministry of Education.
Oldest minister in the government, unambitious and unassuming, trusted and well-liked. A fast speaker, so absorbed in the flow of ideas and so eager to get his thoughts across quickly that he sometimes becomes hard to understand. His dedication to improving educational facilities and standards has earned him high respect.