05 Jul 2021

There is nothing remarkable about the tree. It will not sing for you or lull you to sleep with an endearing melody like magical trees in folklore do. Nor would it trap you and close you inside its huge trunk, but Magoriapitse folk hold this particular tree in high regard, even to the point of revering it. 

They simply refer to it as Mokala wa ga Seretse, that is Seretse’s Mokala. 

How this thorny tree in a tiny village lying 137 kilometres South West of Gaborone could be associated with Botswana’s founding President is indeed interesting. 

The story is that Sir Seretse Khama once camped under the tree for a week. While no one was certain about the date or about who might have been close to events at the time, there is consensus that the event did occur, shortly after independence in 1966. 

At the time, the pioneer nationalist was addressing meetings around the area and used the tree as his base; his rendezvous with his team. 

It is all part of an elusive past that residents wish could replay and which they shall forever hold near and dear. Eighty-eight-year-old headman Mr Ralonyatso Mosweu is proud that the tree ties the village to the nation’s early days of independence and the man who engineered democracy in Botswana. 

Initially fidgety about whether he is the right person to lead the team to the spot in the absence of the ward headman, he eventually does so after a few consultations. 

The wisdom of old age, I later deduce: his was to avoid upsetting the social code that regulates power relations between elders across the village. 

“Yes, Seretse spent days and nights here,” he says matter-of -fact. His speech is peppered with clever aphorisms, all translatable to the pride that he and the other villagers feel about this humble spot. And you can understand why. 

That the spearhead that unified Batswana around shared values and forged their common destiny, could leave such an indelible footprint in this tiny village should be a source of pride for folks here.

 “If wishes were horses, we would have this area fenced-off to protect it for posterity,” he says, his wizened features focused on some distant object. Ward headman, Mr Christopher Ikgopoleng is, like most elders, not sure what year it was, but vividly remembers Sir Seretse Khama passing through the village and staying a stone’s throw away from his place for a days. 

“To us, this place is a treasure we wish could be officially named after Sir Seretse Khama, who shepherded the nation with his own noble hands. Sir Seretse Khama, he says, embodied the secret of faith, devotion and service.

 Mr Geoffrey Khoane, one of Magoriapitse’s youthful members says most elders say Sir Seretse camped under the tree for seven days. Like his elders, he wishes the area could be fenced-off and the history around it documented. 

As if waiting for that great day, the big Mokala tree waits, like a giant beating his chest triumphantly after pounding everybody into submission, and stands bold as brass, providing shade to brushes that gather around it like the subjects that they are. It stands, a sentinel over the nearby and a conspicuous reminder of modesty, humility and leadership at work that Sir Seretse Khama personified. It remains known as Mokala wa ga Seretse. ends