Background
Moatlakgola P. K. NWAKO was born on September 1923 at a village in the Ngwato district. Nwako spent most of his boyhood helping to mind the family cattle.
Moatlakgola P. K. NWAKO was born on September 1923 at a village in the Ngwato district. Nwako spent most of his boyhood helping to mind the family cattle.
Nwako spent most of his boyhood helping to mind the family cattle. At the age of fourteen, he was sent for Primary Education at Khama Memorial School. Thereafter, in 1943, he went to Tiger Kloof Institute near Vryburg, where he completed his secondary education. Nwako's classmates at Tiger Kloof such late associates as Motsamai Mpho, Edison Masisi, Washington Meswele and Quett Masire.
He joined the Bakwena and Bamangwato Tribal Authorities and rose to be treasurer. In 1954 he became secretary and treasurer of Moeng College and held the post for 10 years. He was appointed a member of the African Advisory Council and served as deputy chairman of the Wages Board at the national abattoirs.
His political career began on March 1, 1965, when he won a seat in the Assembly for Tswapong North. On March 5, 1965, he was brought into the government as Minister of Agriculture. A year later he became Minister of State and played an important role representing his country abroad at conferences for three years. Working closely with Sir Seretse Khama he took the same balanced attitude to crises in Africa. From the outset, he preserved and promoted Botswana’s traditional emphasis on multi-racial harmony.
On his re-election for Tswapong in October 1969 he became Minister of Health, Labour and Home Affairs. Because of rising expectations for better living standards once the mineral wealth of the country is exploited he has continued to have a dominant role in the National Assembly. He remains a much-consulted adviser at the President's office. In 1989 Nwako retired from Cabinet to assume the role of Speaker of the House. In 1994, he was succeeded as Tshwapong North MP by the then Vice President Festus Mogae, but continued to serve as Speaker until his retirement in 1999.
In his final years, Nwako was vocal in his belief about the need to preserve and adapt local culture to changing times
With Masire in particular, he developed friendly rivalry as the two competed for top academic honours in the class. Nwako was especially keen on Mathematics, a talent that earned him a nickname "Pythagoras"