16 Jun 2019

Ambassador of the United States, Mr Craig Cloud, paid a courtesy call on Ntlo ya Dikgosi chairperson, Kgosi Puso in Gaborone on June 13.  

Ambassador Cloud said he found it necessary to meet with Kgosi Puso to introduce himself, adding that he understood the importance of dikgosi in governance.

“I know how important the traditional chieftaincy structure is to the people of Botswana and how influential you are in the government structure,” he said.

“Part of that is also knowing how important it is to meet with one of the dikgosi whenever we start working in the communities,” he added. 

Ambassador Cloud said he was also interested in understanding how government and dikgosi worked together, adding that recently, he had the pleasure to meet Balete paramount chief, Kgosi Mosadi and other dikgosi in Kasane. 

Sharing the general function of his office and of dikgosi, Kgosi Puso said the bogosi institution dated back to pre-independence era, “so chiefs have always been there to be the leaders of their communities”. 

Before independence, he said, dikgosi were tasked with responsibility of ensuring there was general social welfare of the communities and were in charge of development projects in the villages. 

This, he said, was because during that period, dikgosi were basically the sole leaders of their communities, ‘because at that time there was no other system except the traditional leadership’.

To date, Kgosi Puso said there were various development projects that were built through the leadership of dikgosi, such as roads, community dams, schools and health facilities. 

“However, some of these functions and duties are now being performed by other various government institutions. So, this system existed for many years and has actually been the foundation of democracy of this Republic,” he added.  

Based on the importance of the bogosi institution and its powers, duties and functions, Kgosi Puso said government did not abolish the institution after attaining independence, but allowed it to exist side by side with the modern constitutional government. 

“This is what justifies the existence of this institution in modern day Botswana. So, we are quite happy that the institution still exists and continues to perform a number of functions in this Republic,” he said. 

The primary objectives of dikgosi, Kgosi Puso said, was to  among othe things, ensure welfare of members of their communities and nation building, by ensuring survival, existence and continued participation of citizens through various projects and activities and  to convene kgotla meetings to obtain feedback and advice from members of the communities.

Another key element, he said, was that dikgosi presided over customary courts in their various villages, as judicial officers, mandated to handle criminal and civil cases.

“Each and every kgosi has a warrant that stipulates the jurisdiction of each and every kgotla. So, a kgosi is recognised as a judicial officer through Government Gazette. So, we are not adjudicating without authority,” he added. 

Due to the importance of the bogosi institution, he said government found it necessary to have Ntlo ya Dikgosi, as an advisory body to parliament and executive. Ends