Stanlake Kukama
Stanlake Kukama | |
|---|---|
 Kukama (left) with his wife, Martha. | |
| NSA member | South & West Africa ???? - 1981 Bophuthatswana 1981 - 1995 |
Stanlake Kukama was a Botswanan Bahá’í who served on the National Spiritual Assemblies of South & West Africa and Bophuthatswana.
Biography[edit]
Kukama was of the Tswana people of Bechuanaland.[1] He established himself as a as a school teacher in Mafeking, South Africa, and was an active member of the political party the African National Congress. He was related to the Paramount Chief of Bechuanaland and as such he had many friends who were in influential positions in Bechuanaland.[2]
In 1955 Kukama was introduced to John Robarts by his relative Dr. Modiri Molema and in July that year he declared becoming the first Tswana Bahá’í to publicly identify as a Bahá’í signing his declaration card while in Bechuanaland itself.[3] While he ceased involvement with the African National Congress after declaring the South African police force kept him under constant surveillance due to his previous political affiliations, despite this he was able to assist the Robarts in establishing the Local Spiritual Assembly of Mafeking in 1956, served on an Area Teaching Committee, and served as a liaison between the South African government and the National Spiritual Assembly of South & West Africa.[3]
At some point after the close of the Ten Year Crusade Kukama was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of South & West Africa and in 1981 he was elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of Bophutatswana serving on the body until it disbanded in 1995. As of 2003 he was still living in Mafeking where he was a respected member of the Bahá’í community.[3]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2006). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 33 (2004-2005), Pg(s) 41. View as PDF.
- ↑ Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 39
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 40
