A Medical Pioneer and Advocate for Innovation

Dr Kgosidialwa Frederick Mompati is a Consultant Physician at Riverside Hospital/Tati River Clinic in Francistown, Botswana.

His medical training took him to several distinguished institutions, including Makerere University in Uganda, the University of Nairobi in Kenya, the Medical University of South Africa, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, the University of Wales in Cardiff, and the University of Derby in the United Kingdom.

Dr Mompati holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree obtained in August 1980. He was admitted as a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom in December 1987, and later became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in July 2000. In 2004, he obtained a Master of Science degree in Strategic Management from the University of Derby, United Kingdom.

He served in the Ministry of Health as a Medical Officer and Consultant Physician for eleven years before entering private practice.

Although his primary interest lies in heart disease, Dr Mompati devoted significant effort to HIV care in the early 1990s. In 1996, he was among the first physicians in Africa to use Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) to treat HIV—just four months after the treatment was formally introduced at the Vancouver International HIV Conference.

He played a key role in developing Botswana’s HIV Treatment Guidelines prior to the government’s national rollout of HIV treatment in 2001 and was among the first preceptors to train healthcare providers in HIV management. Dr Mompati remains passionate about HIV care, particularly in the area of prevention.

Together with his wife, he co-founded Riverside Private Hospital, which officially opened its doors to patients in 2007, inaugurated by the then Minister of Health, Professor Sheila Tlou.

In 2008, he spearheaded the establishment of a dialysis centre in Francistown, officially opened by the late Vice President, Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe. The centre now provides dialysis treatment to approximately 200 patients per month. In August 2018, another dialysis centre was inaugurated in Palapye by His Excellency, the President Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi.

Driven by his love for Botswana, Dr Mompati has served on several national committees, including:

1. Founding Chairman of the Botswana Drugs Advisory Board, responsible for the registration and licensing of drugs in Botswana

2. Deputy Chairman of the Botswana Society for the Deaf

3. Chairman of the Southern African HIV Society, Botswana Branch

4. Chairman of the Botswana Medical and Dental Association

5. Principal Investigator at the Francistown Site for the Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of Nevirapine Once-Daily Dosing in Children

In recognition of his dedicated service to the nation, Dr Mompati was awarded the Presidential Order of Honour (PH) in 2001 by His Excellency, the then President of Botswana, Dr Festus G. Mogae. Although not a Rotarian himself, he was also conferred the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) award for his leadership in HIV care.