Africa-Press – Botswana. After three elections, all marred by petitions from various quarters, Rakops residents today cast their votes in a bogosi contest that Minister Kgotla Autlwetse of Local Government and Rural Development said would be the last.
At a kgotla meeting held in the village on Friday, Minister Autlwetse said unlike with past elections that were held to fill the vacant post of headman of record, any petitions that would arise from the Monday election would not be entertained as efforts had been made by the office of the district commissioner to quell the apparent strife that existed among residents.
“One thing that became clear as I looked into this issue was that there was a lot of strife in the village, especially from those within bogosi. I then tasked the district commissioner to broker peace and I believe that exercise was done successfully,” he said.
Calling for residents of Rakops to protect the integrity of their village by ensuring a smooth electoral process, the minister said he did not expect a repeat of the irregularities that were alleged to have occurred in the past.
Among those, Mr Autlwetse cited allegations of residents of other villages partaking in the election as well as the election date being shared selectively with candidates thereby denying others the chance to adequately prepare for the elections.
On proposals that he said he received from some urging him to invoke the provisions of the Bogosi Act which empowered him to directly appoint the kgosi for the village on account of residents failing to properly manage their affairs, Mr Autlwetse said despite him enjoying such backing of the law, he saw it wise to forego that right as the move would have been construed by some as an indication that he had a particular individual that he wanted for the position.
“Ha le bo tsaya le bo tsenya mo diatleng tsa bosemangmang ka gore ba nale dijo, moo ke ga lona, le tlaa buswa ke dijo,” he said, addressing allegations that with past elections some aspirants for the position were preferred over others not on account of their capability to hold office, but rather on the basis of them being well-off.
In the end, the minister reiterated his earlier pronouncement that he would appoint whoever came out tops in Monday’s election to the vacant position, to put to bed for good the back and forth tussle that had deeply threatened the very soul of the village.
During comments, speaker after speaker hailed the minister for his decision, saying peace and progress in terms of developments were now imminent.
“The minister has thrown the ball into our court, it is now our responsibility as the people of Rakops to do the right thing,” said one Mr Gaseitsiwe Stofane, while his counterpart Mr Bugalo Manyuni labelled Minister Autlwetse’s decision as brave and brilliant. Triggering murmurs of disagreement from fellow residents, Mr Manyuni said there, however, remained a high likelihood of petitions arising though the minister was adamant in his address that he would not entertain any further appeals for his intervention.
To Mr Mafute Lusha, advancing personal interests over those of the entire village was the reason the issue had dragged on for long.
“Mathata a rona ke go okwa ke go ja. A re tlogeleng mokgwa o e seng jalo re tlaa rekisa lefatshe. A re tsepameng mo boammaaruring fa re tlhopha kgosi,” he said.
The Rakops’s headman of record position fell vacant following the retirement of the late Kgosi Gonkgang Mankgatau in 2018.
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