Makopong community to appoint their own Kgosi
Govt admit mistakes in appointing last Kgosi
The Makopong chieftaincy dispute which has been raging on for the past few years is now handed back to the community to make a final determination on who will be the next Kgosi.
Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse was in Makopong last week to inform the community that his Ministry is handing the matter back to the community. The decision to give morafhe authority to appoint their own kgosi follows a protracted legal battle between the Ministry and the Makopong community. The community was challenging through the courts, a decision by the then Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Slumber Tsogwane, who in 2016 appointed a Kgosi for Makopong village. The villagers were up in arms arguing that proper procedure was not followed. Two different judges at the Lobatse High Court ruled in favour of the community that the Minister’s appointee, Vincent Phologo, was not properly appointed to the position. According to the community. chieftainship in the village had always been determined through elections not through the right of birth as government argued. Left with an egg on the face following the court defeat, Ministry officials led by assistant Minister Autlwetse were left with no option but to go back to the community to start proceedings of appointing a kgosi afresh. In an address which lasted only a few minutes, Autlwetse went on a lecture about how bogosi
is the foundation of Botswana’s democracy and how the bogosi institution will stand the country in good stead. The Assistant Minister cautioned that politicians should not meddle in bogosi issues.
“Bogosi in Makopong has issues, which need to be addressed,” Autlwetse said. The Assistant Minister was quick to admit that mistakes were made when Phologo was appointed kgosi. “The High Court judgment says procedure was not followed. We need to respect the judgment because no one is above the law,” he said, adding that he was in Makopong to start the issue afresh and hand it back to the community on how they would want to proceed, a decision which the community that had thronged the Makopong kgotla, welcomed. “My Ministry will wait for feedback from you. The Ministry will come at the end of the process, let us follow procedure,” Autlwetse said.
The few community members who had a chance to comment welcomed the Minister’s decision to give them an opportunity to appoint their own kgosi. Robert Batane called on the community to unite throughout the proceedings of appointing a new kgosi for the village. He said that officials from the Local Government Ministry need to have a good working relationship with the community in order to amicably solve the issue.
However, some community members such as Selebogo Phologo expressed worry that the
morafhe might fail to resolve the matter. “We failed to solve this issue in the past, so why hand it back to us?,” Phologo asked, adding that the Makopong
bogosi is being politicised. In response Autlwetse said there is no how the community will fail to solve the matter as long as procedure is followed. “Let us follow procedure. There is no bogosi which has no history,” he said. The community assured the Minister that he will receive feedback. Botswana Guardian understands that a committee of elders will be appointed to lead the matter. “The committee will liaise with the District Commissioner soon to give a way forward,” said a source.