Tsogwane must clean up Kgamane’s mess- MP Majaha

Member of Parliament (MP) for Nata-Gweta constituency Paulson Majaha has condemned the decision by BaNgwato Regent Sediegeng Kgamane to handpick for Nata, a Senior Tribal Authority without any consultations with the community. He stated that Kgamane’s current decision through a delegation from Serowe is very contradictory and likely to spark animosity between villagers and the current leadership.

“The first delegation from Serowe last year informed the villagers that their Senior Tribal Authority Mokgwathi Makgesi was retiring due to old age and ill-health. In that very same meeting, residents were requested to come up with a name of a suitable candidate to fill the vacant post and before they could finalise their options another delegation arrived from Serowe on the 10th of March 2016 singing a completely different tune,” he stated.

Majaha informed Northern Extra that the first delegation made it clear that none of the chiefs currently holding office should be elevated to the vacant position as they preferred someone from among the villagers. He added that when Kgamane decided to handpick his man to lead Nata village, he misused Bogosi Act section 22 sub-section 2, as he never consulted with the villagers as the section in question clearly stipulates.

Furthermore, he made it clear that the chosen chief - Letso Kgaswa - is a junior to all the current tribal authorities and his elevation at the expense of his seniors will further divide the village of Nata. “I have to meet Slumber Tsogwane in order for him to address the matter before the current session of parliament closes as people are waiting for me to give them a concrete response on the issue as I will be addressing them throughout the constituency and this is a sensitive issue which they will certainly raise. I was given a petition by the residents of Nata addressed to Tsogwane but since then, I have not managed to meet him so that we iron out this problem,” he explained.

His other bone of contention is that there is no Kgosi in Zoroga as well as other villages which are lagging behind in developments as no MP or even the President can pay them a visit since government officials are welcomed in the village by the Kgosi.
When quizzed as to who are the rightful claimants to the Nata chieftainship, Majaha did not want to get entangled in the chieftainship saga as he only said that any resident of Nata village is eligible to be a Kgosi irrespective of tribe as they are all Batswana but speaking different languages as well as having varying cultures. “Although Basarwa are the first inhabitants of Nata village, the Nata Bogosi is not hereditary. It is done at the Kgotla like in many other villages across Botswana,’’ Majaha lectured.