Kgamane snubs Nata residents again

Nata residents who thronged the Kgotla on Friday hoping to resolve the village’s chieftainship dispute through an election, left dejected as the meeting was cancelled at the last minute to a later date. The announcement of the next election will be made from Bamangwato village of Serowe.

A memorandum in possession of this publication had been circulated around the village announcing the critical and important meeting which was to be addressed by a delegate from Serowe to bring their chieftainship crisis to an end. A village chief said the village chieftainship crisis will never be resolved because Sediegeng Kgamane, the Bangwato regent, is not willing to accept any person elected by the villagers since he is eyeing his own confidante to take over.

When the then senior village Tribal Authority retired from his duty due to old age in 2015, a team from Kgamane arrived in the village and informed them that they were to elect their own preferred candidate to take the position which had become vacant. At the same meeting, it was announced that junior chiefs Rebagamang Rancholo who is currently on an acting capacity and Letsogo Kgaswa would not be considered for the post since it was not a promotion.

When residents were still making efforts to elect and submit names of their preferred candidates to the concerned ministry, Kgamane then used section 18 of the Bogosi Act to make his own choice of leader but failed to make it known to the villagers. When his announcement reached Nata, concerned residents petitioned Minister Slumber Tsogwane who then directed the Tribal Authority Director to have the Nata chieftainship crisis revisited and solved according to the will of the people.

The Midweek Sun can confirm the existence of such a directive which Kgamane has ignored for over a year now. When this publication called his office on Friday after the postponed election meeting, Kgamane fumed and revealed that journalists and members of the public will never twist his arm to make chieftainship decisions which they prefer. He said that as long as he is still in charge all pending chieftainship issues will be solved at his own pace instead of that of the media. He acknowledged that he has cancelled the meeting to a later date but declined to give reasons as he said such reasons have been made known to Kgaswa who is not obliged to disclose it to the general public and the media save to announce the postponement.