Countdown
The IAAF was saddened to be informed of the passing of Lieutenant General Mmopati S. Merafe, the patron, founder member and first chairperson of the Botswana Athletics Association, who died on the morning of 7 January 2015 after years of ill health.
Lt. Gen. Mompati Sebogodi Merafhe (6 June 1936 – 7 January 2015) was a politician who was Vice-President of Botswana from 2008 to 2012. He was a retired Lieutenant General and was Botswana's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2008.
In sports administration he was very supportive of the Botswana Athletics Association and was key to the successful hosting by Botswana of the 10th Africa Junior Athletics Championships in 2011. Chairperson of the National Sports Council and National Olympic Committee for many years, notably he was head of delegation for the first Botswana team to be sent to the Olympic Games (1980).
The funeral will be on the Saturday 17 January at his home village of Serowe.
The IAAF offers its deepest sympathy and condolence to his family and friends.
