Confusion and frustration reign as villages are separated
When the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse visited Tumasera kgotla a fortnight ago, there was no telling what he was bringing to the people of Tswapong area.
They could not have guessed that he was coming to tell them that they have been wrongly identifying themselves as people of Tumasera for more than 40 years and that all of that will have to stop with immediate effect.
He told them that there is no village by the name Tumasera, that the name was birthed for the sole purpose of identifying the main Kgotla which is offering services to the four villages of Tupya, Malete, Seleka and Rasesa that are found in their area.
He explained that the name is an acronym made up of the first two letters of the four villages.
For the longest time, the name Tumasera has been used to refer to a village, while Tupya, Malete, Seleka and Rasesa were referred to as wards that made up Tumasera.
This is because the four villages are closely connected to each other so much that most people residing in the area get confused at times. They do not know where exactly each village begins or ends because it is a walking distance from village number one to four.
And now with the minister’s recent announcement, residents find themselves being neighbours to someone of a different village.
This has caused mixed feelings in the village, some are happy while others are angry and disappointed at Autlwetse, they feel that all he has done is pour fuel over the wars regarding the identity of their villages that have been raging for years.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
According to affidavits before court given by Seleka village royals in the early 90s, sometime in 1981, the Bangwato Tribal Authorities as their superordinate, visited their village to officially inform them of intended plans to increase the
jurisdiction of Seleka Customary Court for handling cases.
At the time, cases were heard at Sefhare village which is some considerable distance from Seleka and this was an inconvenience to the people.
It was at that meeting that representation from Tupya, Malete and Rasesa villages pleaded that they want to be included in the arrangement so that disputes from their respective customary courts could also be resolved quicker.
Months later, it was announced by Bangwato Tribal Authorities in conjunction with the office of the district commissioner that they are going to establish a traditional court (Kgotla) at a neutral place with increased criminal jurisdiction to hear cases from the four villages.
The court was to have both original and appellate jurisdiction as the headman of the four villages still had a jurisdiction to try cases at their own courts.
It was then agreed that because the kgotla was established for the four villages, it be given a name that would reflect or show joint membership and control, which is how Tumasera came about.
However, with time, the people of Seleka soon learnt that the Tumasera name was gaining popularity and being used to refer to all the four villages and not restricted to the newly established central court.
They were surprised to learn that villagers of the other three villages were extending the name beyond the kgotla. The residents of the three villages put together, outnumbered the residents of Seleka and with their numerical strength advantage, they decided to rename the Village Development Committee (VDC) Tumasera from Seleka VDC.
Thereafter, other public facilities and institutions such as schools, postal services and cooperative shops were referred to as Tumasera.
What shocked them to the core was the purported combining of the four villages into a single unit and re-naming it Tumasera such that even road signs read Tumasera.
Realising what was happening, the Seleka royals complained to the subordinate Tribal Authority at Ramokgonami village. They agreed with them that the name was for the kgotla only.
However, it appeared the then Member of Parliament and chief representative favoured the new name and jointly encouraged the name so much that Seleka villagers were soon forced to state for official purposes that they are residents of Tumasera.
Seleka residents complained to the then Assistant Minister of Local Government, Michael Tshipinare and instead of getting a response, on the 14th October 1992, Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane of Serowe visited them to address the issue.
He agreed that there had not been proper consultation done but stated that he too supported the merger of the four villages as that would bring developments easier.
He then ordered that as of 14th October 1992, the four villages will be called Tumasera. Aggrieved Seleka residents sought the intervention of court.
COURT RULING
On the 26th May 1995, Judge Gyeke-Dako ruled that Seleka is a village separate and distinct from Tupya, Malete and Rasesa and as such entitled to retain its name and identity.
He said the decision to include Seleka jointly alongside the villages Tupya, Malete and Rasesa now known as Tumasera was taken without proper consultation with Seleka residents and as such undemocratic and null and void.
That the right to name or rename village by whatever name belongs to the residents of the village in conjunction with the relevant government ministry.
The headmen and/or residents of Tupya, Malete and Rasesa individually and or collectively had no authority to impose the name Tumasera upon the residents of Seleka. With that, Kgosi Kgamane’s order of 1992 was declared null and void.
WHAT THEN HAPPENED AFTER THE 1995 ORDER?
After the ruling, Seleka residents began life as an independent village, they knew that whatever happened with the other three villages was none of their business.
However, they continued getting services from the main kgotla of Tumasera.
But because of the court ruling, battle lines had clearly been drawn, it became evident that the other three villages were not happy with Seleka, believing firmly that they were the odd ones out. They could not understand why Seleka was being an outcast, they were deemed selfish.
As time went on, road signs were modified and Seleka was included as an independent village, nonetheless the name Tumasera still remained.
The change made the aggrieved three uncomfortable, they even suggested that the name be changed to Tumara village instead but there was nothing they could do to change the name.
When Autlwetse came to them a fortnight ago, the intention was to put out the fire once and for all because at every kgotla meeting the issue always cropped up.
So much that developments suffered as there was always confusion as to who is who and what should be done where. As the villages grew in size, things got even more complicated. This is why dikgosi of all the four villages believe
Autlwetse did well to disband the other three villages once and for all.
KGOSI BONANG TOMO - TUPYA VILLAGE
He said that he was happy that the minister had decided to dissolve the villages because they now want to be an independent village just like Seleka.
His reasoning is that they want to do things independently and ensure that the village culture is not eroded. He is of the view that they qualify to stand alone in order to prevent recurring tribal conflicts.
Tomo was installed Kgosana of Tupya in 2019 and when he came in, he found an agreement in place that the three villages should merge to form one village.
“The minister came here to reconcile us, I understood what he was doing and appreciated it,” he said. Tupya, he said, has four wards to show that they are a big and still growing village.
KGOSI SESA MALEELE - RASESA VILLAGE
Kgosi Maleele had actually written a letter to government not so long ago asking that they be separated. He was concerned that elders might have been misguided when taking a decision that they merge, he wanted the agreement to be reversed because it was not serving any purpose.
He explained how the decision to merge was agreed upon, while sitting under a tree saying it was not befitting for such a huge change to be effected. He believes the whole reason the three villages merged was because they wanted to outnumber Seleka during national elections.
“That is the reason my elders gave me and I told them that politics and royal duties do not mix so when Autlwetse announced his decision, I honestly ululated,” he said. Rasesa, he said, has 14 wards with a very rapidly growing population.
KGOSI TATLHEGO GAOTLHOBOGWE - MALETE VILLAGE
Gaotlhobogwe said they are now realising that even though they wanted to merge for easy village developments, they blundered.
“We understand why Seleka wanted to be independent, what now happens is that when government resources come, they benefit more compared to us. All three of us are grouped as one, while they on the other hand benefit as one,” he said.
He added that when government programmes reach their side, they are divided into half with Seleka solely getting 50 percent and the other shared among the three villages.
“We sometimes listened as Seleka people mocked us and say we have no identity, if we say we are Tumasera, they asked where our Kgotla is because the central one belonged to them too. That is when we realised that we are a lost village,” he said.
KGOSI PIET MODIAKGOTLA - SELEKA VILLAGE
He is happy that sense has finally prevailed on all others. He failed to understand all the fuss about of the merger.
'We have been watching as they fought amongst themselves, you know that they have not been given plot numbers because they cannot agree on who should be number one.
“If you say yard number one is in Rasesa, Malete and Tupya complains, they all want to have plot number one,' he said.
Further, that it is not true that they are big-headed, all they did was protect what was theirs and to this day, they remain happy to have stood firm on what they want.
He shared how they were the first to arrive in the area, saying they were given the land by the Bangwato Tribal Authorities. Other villages of Malete and others then came and joined them, the three villages then grew towards Seleka so much that they now appear to be one village.
TUMASERA VDC UNHAPPY
Modise Diboko, chairperson of Tumasera VDC said they are disappointed by what Autlwetse has done. He does not really understand what the minister was trying to achieve, saying all he has done is cause more confusion among the villagers.
“What he brought is not new, he came to tell us about the court order, we know about the order, we are fully aware of it and its contents. Things have been peaceful, we knew that Seleka does not want to be part of us,” he said.
He further noted that despite the court order, government has been referring to the village as Tumasera because in all their official correspondences, they label them Tumasera.
'If the name did not exist because of the court order why did they continue using it? Children have been born and their birth certificates are written Tumasera as place of birth, while others have their identification cards written Tumasera. Government is confusing us and causing rifts here.
“What about us as the VDC, have we been disbanded? If not, who will we serve? What exactly will be the purpose of Tumasera kgotla, what will be happening with it?
“And with the way people have been building houses, who is going to put out the fire of village boundaries. He should have made all these clear before going back to Gaborone,” a worried Diboko said.
VDC Secretary General Onkemetse Gaopake said when he was born some 37 years ago, he found tensions between Seleka and the other three villages. He recalls how the fights got nasty with remarks passed on a daily basis, there would be things like this is our territory and so forth.
This is why a majority of young people came to embrace the name Tumasera because it brought them together as one. But now what the minister has done is to tear them apart and they now find themselves forced to go with new identities.
“We are confused, Tumasera was important to us but it has now been thrown out just like that. We had plans and suggestions of how Tumasera could be developed, ideas which we got from the people, how would all those be implemented, whose interests would we be pushing forward?” he wondered.
VILLAGERS
Elderly Mabina Phuthego (78) remembered well how the name Tumasera came about, he said they have been using it for over 42 years and after so many years, Autlwetse comes to them to throw away their village name.
“Why did the minister not consult us to understand what is going on? Who told him that the three villages want to be separated because we are the ones who went to them willingly asking for a merger,” he asked.
He wonders whether Autlwetse was acting on instructions of government or on his own capacity and if it was government instructions, then the government is indeed confused.
Mmadira Maleele (65) said her soul has been troubled since the Minister's visit, she knows no sleep. She sees what has been done as abuse by government.
Their children know that the village is called Tumasera but now the name is being dissolved. She fails to understand why government is tolerating the rants of Seleka people.
'Because of the very same government we no longer know boundaries of our villages and the issue of boundaries is what is going to kill most of us. Blood will be shed because none of these people is ready to accept boundaries, they are fighting bitterly over land,' she said.
Maleele wondered why government was disbanding them when the court never said they should be disbanded. She said Seleka should not be forced to form part of the merger and they accepted it. But with the three villages, no court order disbanded them.
She wondered why Autlwetse was differing with Kgamane and wondered if in the future, another authority representative will not come to them to make a different decision because it seemed everybody was speaking their mind with no official document whatsoever.
'Autlwetse should leave us alone, we are fine as we have been, we do not need his orders here. I swear we will have a repeat of the wars that erupted in the 90s.'
Metsi Simon Mpoeleng, who is head of Minister's Fraternal committee in Tumasera said he was equally worried of what the future holds.
As pastors, they wish the matter could be resolved without conflicts but they are shocked that the minister chose to ignore the fact that there are documents that made the merger official in 1997. Mpoeleng also foresees a disaster waiting to explode.
WAR OVER BOUNDARY LINES
From interviews conducted by The Midweek Sun, it is clear that a fierce war is brewing. When asked where exactly the four villages are joined, all villagers and their leaders gave contradicting views suggesting that the affected will clash bitterly during demarcation.
Already, the people of Malete are calling for the renaming of Seleka Primary School, saying the school is in their village and that it does not make sense that it continues carrying the name Seleka.
On the other hand, Seleka said Malete needs to back off because as far as they know, Seleka Primary is located in Seleka village and not Malete.
Moreover, the people of Rasesa also want the name of the school found in their village renamed. They do not want its current name - Tumasera Primary school.