The Rise of Lesego Chombo,
In a world where beauty and ambition are often unfairly seen as mutually exclusive, Lesego Chombo is rewriting the script, boldly, unapologetically, and with impact that spans continents. At just 27, she is not only a former Miss Botswana and Miss World Africa 2024, but also a qualified lawyer, founder of a social impact foundation, and now Botswana’s youngest-ever cabinet minister. Chombo’s story is not just inspiring, it’s paradigm-shifting.
Beauty Was Just the Beginning
Winning Miss Botswana in 2022 was only the spark. From that moment, Lesego used her crown not as a symbol but as a microphone, amplifying the voices of the underserved and underrepresented. She founded The Lesego Chombo Foundation, dedicated to supporting rural youth and parents. Through this platform, she developed programs funded by corporate partnerships, demonstrating that beauty queens can be architects of social change.
Brains Meet Public Service
In November 2024, in a moment that stunned many, Chombo was appointed Minister of Youth and Gender by newly elected President Duma Boko. The 26-year-old became the face of a new political era, one focused on youth inclusion, female empowerment, and systemic reform. “I’ve never been more proud to be young,” she reportedly told the BBC. “Miss World was the platform, but this is the purpose.” Today, she is one of only six women in Botswana’s 69-member National Assembly. And despite not campaigning for a seat, her appointment sends a message: capability and credibility transcend convention.
The Mission: Youth Power and Gender Justice
Chombo steps into her political role with clear-eyed purpose. With over 60 per cent of Botswana’s population under 35, and unemployment among youth and women soaring above 28 per cent, her focus is on building ecosystems for young people to not only survive but thrive. Her blueprint includes strengthening entrepreneurship ecosystems, championing youth-led innovation, ensuring representation in decision-making spaces and pushing for gender equity across government policies
On gender-based violence, a national crisis affecting over 67 per cent of Botswana’s women, Chombo is vocal and intentional. Her ministry is championing the creation of a Gender-Based Violence Act, pushing for preventative education, and calling for cross-ministerial collaboration to end the cycle of violence.
From the Runway to the Cabinet: A Modern Role Model
In Lesego, we see the modern African woman, multidimensional, mission-driven, and magnificently powerful. She moves between courtrooms, campaign halls, and community classrooms with the same poise she once carried on the global stage of the Miss World competition. But this isn’t just about titles. It's about a generation-defining moment. It’s about a young woman using every stage, from pageants to parliaments, to challenge norms, break ceilings, and craft solutions.
A Beauty Marché celebrate Lesogo
For the brown-skinned girl sitting in a rural classroom, wondering if she’s enough, the young lawyer questioning if her voice matters in a room full of men, and the youth dreaming beyond survival, Lesego Chombo inspires us. At Beauty Marché, we believe in celebrating women like her, women whose journeys prove that brilliance and beauty are not in competition, but in collaboration.
This article is a compilation of different media reports. The quotes are taken from a BBC
article on the same topic. No information was distorted in the compilation of this article.
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