Nata rocked by bogosi crisis

The village of Nata is currently rocked by a chieftainship crisis after the resignation of Senior Sub Tribal Authority at the village customary court Kgosi Mokgatli Makgesi last year due to ill health.

Following his resignation, The Midweek Sun is reliably informed that some tribal leaders from Serowe, under which Nata falls, addressed the villagers at the kgotla on the imminent election of Makgesi’s replacement. There are concerns that since the address by the Bammangwato tribal authorities, nothing has been done.

A resident of Nata village who aspires to contest for the position, Israel Keitumele, a Mosarwa by birth, did not hide his displeasure at the current state of affairs concerning his village. He complained that although the chieftainship of the village belongs to the Basarwa as the first inhabitants of the village, Basarwa have always been sidelined due to their longstanding stigmatisation by other tribes.

“My grandfather was the first headman of this village, but was always sidelined as he was always given an outsider to have authority over him since he was illiterate. This time around, I am readily available and literate enough to lead this village as a Mosarwa who is a former Police officer currently working for the University of Botswana. Since the resignation of Makgesi, I have been looking forward to contesting the chieftainship election. I am however frustrated that no arrangements are being made for the elections,” said Keitumele. His suspicion is that those who are holding the fort at the village kgotla are hell-bent on avoiding an election.

He explained that after the resignation of Makgesi, some tribal authorities from Serowe village addressed a kgotla meeting during which they informed the villagers to nominate a chief to lead the village but up to now, no meetings have materialised.

“The current kgosi Rebagamang Rancholo wants to remain the chief as he claims to be more familiar with the kgotla proceedings than anybody else in the village. As of now, he is busy using the kgotla to garner support from villagers and ward headman for his name to be forwarded to Serowe at the expense of other capable villagers who are also interested in the vacant position. According to the Bogosi Act, when a vacancy is available for a kgosi, an election is held at the kgotla setup in which all villagers are given the opportunity to elect a leader of their choice,” he said.

However, Rancholo differed with Keitumele saying that the Tribal leaders from Serowe did not give the Nata community any guidance at all when they addressed the villagers after the resignation of Makgesi.

“Those people came to us empty handed as they failed to follow the procedure usually followed when such a vacancy exists. For example, whoever is second in command to the Senior Sub Tribal authority should replace him when he dies or resigns. We do not know why the delegation from Serowe omitted to use that provision. Instead, when they came to the village, they brought along malice against my person as they informed me that I was stuck in my position as I would never be elevated to the vacant post. In Palapye village, Raditanka filled the gap left by Maforaga, whereas in Gweta village Kgosi Mapini took over from Kethonametswe. The same procedure should apply in Nata village since there are several longstanding precedents. Here in Nata, Makgesi himself also succeeded Mandiwana Mabelenga. The current impasse here is likely to take a long time to be resolved as the village elders are still locked up in meetings to come up with a long lasting solution,” Rancholo complained.

A village elder from Manakanagore ward, Dikakanyo Dilo complained that as residents of the village, they feel looked down upon since they are Basarwa. She said that the chieftainship of the village belongs to the Basarwa since they are the first inhabitants of the village. “Our problem in Botswana is the fact that when one introduces himself or herself as a Mosarwa it appears like a taboo.

A minister once scolded me for introducing myself as a Mosarwa and it has since traumatised me since other people from different tribes can proudly introduce themselves using their tribes unlike in our case. We are sick and tired of leaders from outside and the time to have a Mosarwa is now.

It seems there are some people who are hell-bent on frustrating our efforts. We are currently waiting for the village leadership to announce the date for the bogosi election so that we can elect one of our own because we have been led by foreigners for too long,” she explained.

She added that the current chieftainship impasse is the result of a leadership struggle since those who worked as Makgesi’s assistants want to be elevated to his position automatically.

Dilo vowed that as Basarwa of Nata village, they will make it a point that no one is promoted to the current vacant position since they strongly believe that this time around a Mosarwa is going to be elected and fill the position of Senior Sub Tribal authority.