Kgotla Kenneth Autlwetse

Kgotla Kenneth Autlwetse (4 January 1949 – 3 June 2025) was a Motswana politician and educator who served as Botswana's Minister of Local Government and Rural Development from 2022 to 2024. A long-time member of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), he earlier chaired the Central District Council and represented Serowe North in Parliament between 2014 and 2019.

Early life and education Autlwetse was born in Serowe on 4 January 1949. After qualifying as a teacher in the early 1970s he worked as an educator and education officer in the Central District.

Local government career In the 1990s Autlwetse entered local politics, becoming a councillor and later chairperson of the Central District Council, Botswana's largest local authority.

Parliamentary career Member of Parliament (2014–2019) After two earlier electoral defeats, Autlwetse won the Serowe North constituency for the BDP at the 2014 Botswana general election on 24 October, polling 9,611 votes (85 percent).

Ministerial career Assistant Minister President Mokgweetsi Masisi appointed Autlwetse Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development soon after the 2019 elections.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (2022–2024) On 26 January 2022, he was sworn in as full minister, succeeding Eric Molale. He launched Botswana's National Decentralisation Strategy to work towards a less centralised state and mediated high-profile bogosi (chieftaincy) disputes. Autlwetse left cabinet on 1 November 2024 following the defeat of the BDP at the 2024 Botswana general election.

Death Autlwetse died after a prolonged illness in Gaborone, on 3 June 2025, at the age of 76.

Electoral history 2019 election

2014 election