Derek Jones (mayor)

John was born in England in 1927.[1] He earned a master's degree at the University of Oxford, and then received his Diploma in Theology from Oxford's Mansfield College.[1][2][3] He served in Egypt in the Royal Air Force for two years.[1][2] After being ordained, he moved to the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) in 1954 as a missionary of the London Missionary Society.[2][4] He later served as the Secretary of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa.[3]

When Gaborone was built as the independent Botswana's new capital in the 1960s, it needed a government. Vice-President Quett Masire urged him to run for city council as a Botswana Democratic Party candidate, but Jones did not believe that would be appropriate for a clergyman.[1] Instead, he agreed to run as an independent and was elected unopposed in the South Ring constituency.[1] Soon after, he was chosen as the city's first mayor in 1966.[1] In 1968, he remained on the city council but stepped down as mayor, and was succeeded by Grace Dambe.[1] He served his full term on the city council, but chose not to run for reelection in 1969.[1] Soon after, he was awarded an OBE.[1]

From 1972 to 1993, he managed the Botswana Book Centre.[1][4] Later, he returned to England where he died on 9 March 2013, aged 86.[4]

• White people in Botswana