Africa-Press – Botswana. Batawana have unanimously supported Kgosi Tawana’s decision to appoint former regent, Kgosi Kealetile Moremi to deputise him.
They approved Kgosi Kealetile as the rightful candidate to fill the post advancing that she had been in the office for 20 years and served the community effectively.
The residents aired their views during a kgotla meeting aimed to fill vacant posts at the kgotla meeting, which comprised that the deputy paramount chief and senior chief representative.
The decision followed the retirement of deputy chief, Kgosi Bringle Dithapo, who ended his journey on August 4 while the senior chief representative post had been vacant following the retirement of Kgosi Charles Letsholathebe in 2021.
Kgosi Kealetile completed her tenure as the Batawana regent in April when Kgosi Tawana resumed his royal duties.
Batawana also appreciated that their kgosi had followed the right procedure as he engaged his uncles who approved Kgosi Kealetile’s appointment before consulting the community.
One of the residents, Mr Benson Bulawayo said Kgosi Tawana’s decision was wise as bogosi issues were sensitive and needed the rightful candidate from the royal house who could handle them with care.
“This is a good move to entrust your sister with the big responsibility to assist you in serving your tribe.
We highly support your decision and promise to rally behind you,” he added. Ms Mariam Ditladi also concurred that Kgosi Kealetile was the apt candidate to replace Kgosi Dithapo and believed that the duo would work closely in promoting peace and stability in the region.
Kgosi Kealetile, she said, was knowledgeable in bogosi issues and believed that she would continue where she left.
Mr Kaitsiwe Bonang also welcomed the decision and wished the procedure could be applied to other dikgotla in the tribal territory.
He said the community was against the system where the royals imposed people to lead them.
However, a few were of the view that the two siblings could not share an officeoffice.
But as the Setswana proverb says lentswe ka kgosi le agelwa mosako meaning that a leader always has the last word, they ended up supporting the appointment of Kgosi Kealetile.
Meanwhile, residents also urged their kgosi to consider increasing headmen numbers, arguing that the population had grown and people travelled long distances to access services.
They also pointed out that the current dikgosana were overwhelmed by cases.
Earlier on, Kgosi Tawana explained that he had followed the right process as per the Bogosi Act, which empowered him to propose a name of his deputy and consult with his uncles and the community.
For the position of senior chief representative, he proposed that those in office could be promoted to fill the post.
While equally concerned about headmen being overworked, he noted that currently the government could not recruit because of budget constraints.
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