26 Mar 2015

If you still have not met Kgosi Michael 'Spokes' Gaborone, then you have no idea that while he may come across as someone firmly rooted in tradition and culture, he is equally a reformist.

You will be right off the mark to assume that just because he is an unpologetic traditionalist, Kgosi Gaborone is still trapped in ancient ideologies of bogosi.   The former Zebras defender and uncle to Batlokwa kgosikgolo, Kgosi Puso, is not that kind of kgosi who is fond of regurgitating or recycling what used to obtain in the past.

Who would think that in this era, where some dikgosi, both in Botswana and throughout Africa, still talk nostalgically about traditional powers, that Kgosi Gaborone would readily acknowledge that indeed times have changed and so bogosi should also undergo some form of transformation to match today’s challenges and needs.

 “Many of our dikgosi are very educated and have the skills to govern even better than politicians and thus I feel the need for bogosi to undergo some form of transformation,” he adds.

Kgosi Gaborone feels it is unfortunate that some dikgosi are so steeped in tradition that they fail to realise times have changed.

“We don’t want to take people back to the past. We want to move forward as times change. There is no problem with us being nostalgic, but it should not blind us to see that bogosi has to adjust to remain relevant to be able to help our people,” he reckons.

He says dikgosi have already demonstrated unparalleled dedication and diligence to their work hence any doubts that they are incompetent and irrelevant should have been cleared by now.

“Just imagine how many cases we deal with at customary court level. If we were to put tools down, the country would be in crisis but when we say dikgosi have no value what are we really talking about?” he asks with a stern voice.

Kgosi Gaborone says besides presiding over cases, dikgosi are also peacemakers in communities, something he says leads to harmony. “There is no doubt that we are the custodians of culture, peace and harmony in our communities. Tell me where crime levels would be if there were no dikgosi,” he asks.

However, he decries the discrepancies between customary and common laws. “Why do we allow the common law to supersede the customary law, this makes our work as dikgosi difficult, we have to address these discrepancies to empower dikgosi just like judges and magistrates because we perform almost the same functions,” suggests Kgosi Gaborone.

He also advocates a comprehensive working partnership with councils and land boards. “We are aware of the complexities associated with land allocation but we are of the view that dikgosi also have a critical role to play in such matters,” he reckons, adding “in this arrangement public officers would deal with the technicalities of the work while dikgosi dealt with other attendant issues”.

He says while dikgosi have always been committed leaders serving their people, misconceptions abound that they are just a power hungry lot trapped in the past.

On the contrary, Kgosi Gaborone says dikgosi just want to serve their people regardless of political affiliations or religion. ENDS