21 Mar 2022

 Batawana Tribal Authority will no longer permit voting of people into positions of dikgosi. 

Chief’s Representative Oleyo Ledimo told Toteng residents Friday that the tribe’s leadership took the decision after realising that elections brought chaos. Also, there was no requirement to hold them, he said 

Chiefs, he said, were born and not elected. 

Kgosi Ledimo, who regretted the delay in implementing the decision, said politics and tribalism fueled chieftainship conflicts. 

The kgosi, he said, belonged to the whole community and should serve his subjects equally irrespective of their tribe. 

He urged Toteng residents to draw a line between bogosi and politics and pleaded with politicians not to politicise bogosi.

Responding to Kgosi Ledimo, residents welcomed the decision, and emphasised that bogosi was hereditary, and the rightful heir could only become kgosi after the death or abdication of the incumbent. 

Banning elections in the institution would protect and enhance respect for it.

 Residents also called on tribal leaders to speed up the process of filling vacant chieftainship posts, saying their chief died in 2020 and was yet to be replaced.

Mr Sebotseng Tubaki also supported the decision, saying the institution of bogosi was undermined by the election system as everyone wanted to be a kgosi. 

He also advised tribal leaders against imposing their choice on affected communities.  

Mr Ezekiel Maoveka also hailed the decision and called on tribal authorities to increase headmen of arbitration in Toteng, saying the village had grown over the years. BOPA