Kenneth Koma

Gaobamong Kenneth Shololo Koma (27 July, 1923 – 19 March, 2007), popularly known as KK,[1] was a Motswana intellectual and politician who served as the president of the Botswana National Front (BNF), the main opposition party from 1977 to 2001.

Alongside Bathoen Gaseitsiwe and Philip Matante, he is considered one of the primary opposition leaders during the first three decades of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government's existence.

For the first twenty years post-independence, Koma faced repeated electoral setbacks, primarily due to Bathoen's interference aimed at sidelining his leadership.

The BNF assumed control of most major urban centers in 1984 and solidified this in 1989, surpassing other political factions to establish itself as the sole party, apart from the BDP, with nationwide influence.

In the subsequent period, Koma confronted a leadership conflict with a younger faction within the party, led by Michael Dingake, who attempted to unseat him in the late 1990s.

[3][4] However, his critics question his autocratic leadership within the party, particularly following Bathoen's departure in 1985, as well as his involvement in opposition divisions that dashed high hopes of an electoral victory in 1999.