Seretse thanks the police for stopping Khama

Acting Regent of Gammangwato Kgosi Serogola Seretse has thanked the Botswana Police Service (BPS) for calming storms in Serowe recently, saying without them, the worst could have happened.

“Diphefo di kile tsa hoka mo Gammangwato mo, ha nne nkile ra thathaekela, ka ebile ne ke nna kele ko setlhoeng, marumo ane ata a thaba ko Serowe kwa ele gore sepolotiki se gomagometsa go thabantsha goromente mme ebile sepolotiki seo setla se hilwe ditaolo tse di tsepameng.

“Ga kere gatwe, ke ne kele teng, di tswa ko go mong wame are ba tshware diphuthego go rata le go kgona,” Seretse said.

By mong wame (his master), Seretse is referring to former President Ian Khama who is paramount chief of Gammangwato. He was narrating how chaotic political clashes nearly got the village of Serowe burnt under his watch after

Khama had instructed his followers to defy the law and just hold meetings of a political nature at the village's main Kgotla.

Khama, who is no longer with the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is Patron and founder of opposition political party, Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF.

The Acting Gammangwato regent, Seretse says in response, he had told Khama that the issues to be discussed at the kgotla were political and could not be discussed at the Kgotla, to which Khama responded by telling Seretse that what he was saying was "an unlawful command.”

“I knew what he meant as the former Botswana Defence Force Commander. And me too as a former soldier, I understood that well. So when you are in power, you have resources at your disposal and that is why when all started, I called the police and closed the Kgotla gates. They tried talking back at me, making demands but I locked the Kgotla.

“Uncles came bearing instructions and I told the police to lock up the Kgotla so that they know who I am. We did put out the fire and that is why I say if it was not for the police, disaster would have occurred,” he said.

Seretse, a close royal kinsman of Khama said Botswana remains a country of peace and it should be allowed to continue like that.

Adding to the discomfort showed against the former president, minister of Defence and Security, Thomas Kagiso Mmusi described Khama as a liar, further stating that they recently saw a dossier written by the former president in which he claimed that there have been extra judicial killings ever since Mokgweetsi Masisi assumed power as the country’s president.

"I want to stand here today, to tell all Batswana that since president Masisi took over, there has never been extrajudicial killings. What happened is that after the Covid-19 pandemic, crime cases went up, thieves were armed with guns and robbing banks, ATMs and getting away with money.

“Everything was chaotic and that is when we stood up to fight it all. Cops acted and responded when they met with the robbers to ensure there is peace and it should be noted that when one is in such cases, some got killed because there were shootouts, they were protecting the nation, something that we will continue doing," Mmusi said, suggesting these killings are what Khama calls extrajudicial killings.