Bamalome, Lesang Go Ja Bana Ditlhogo

A colleague, the then Independent newspapers’ group foreign editor, Peter Fabricious, threw a snide at me; “so your culture encourages incest…” As I turned around in shock, about to shout “racist”, he told me he sent me a story from home, Botswana, to edit, which speaks of cultural acceptance to the practice of incest. The opinion piece was written by Botswana’s former Attorney General, Ambassador Dr Athalia Molokomme, who was then the head of Southern African Development Community  gender desk.

Dr Molokomme, had uncomfortably confronted our cultural practices that not only spoke to incest, but also encouraged molesting of the girl child.  Amongst other practices of the past, some still present in our communities, such as the concept of di boela sakeng, when mainly amongst the Bangwato, immediate cousins married each other and bogadi is retained within the family.