Now BDP creates enemy in Batawana

Boniface Keakabetse | Tuesday October 14, 2014 08:00

 

Batawana Kgosi Tawana Moremi’s age regiment, Matsaakgang, said on Sunday they will be approaching the village leadership to ask for permission to address the tribe, following Khama’s “denegrading statements against Tawana.” 

Matsaakgang said this at the Maun main Kgotla as they convened to prepare for Tawana’s birthday which falls on October 18, just six days before the general election date. The regiment’s apparent anger follows a weekend political rally addressed by Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) president Ian Khama and party top brass. Kgosi Tawana, is  the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) parliamentary candidate for Maun West

The regiment whose meeting was also attended by droves of Batawana outside the regiment,  is said to be particularly unhappy with Khama’s portrayal of Tawana as an irresponsible leader who could not even take care of his children own. To add insult to injury, the BDP entourage brought along, and flaunted Tawana’s ex-wife Tsitsi Moremi.

Many of those who attended the meeting were of the view that the insults against Tawana were in essense directed at the tribe itself. 

A misunderstanding almost ensued when Batawana deputy chief, and Tawana’s uncle Charles Letsholathebe advised the meeting that the issue should not be discussed at the Kgotla as it was a political matter, and other people felt the Kgotla was the appropriate place because they as a tribe had been insulted. Kgosi Letsholathebe, however, assured the meeting that his request for them not to discuss issues related to politics did not mean they were happy with the manner in which speakers at the BDP rally had discussed Tawana. As Batawana bogosi, they were also equally disappointed at the BDP for its disrepect of the Kgosikgolo, but the Kgotla was not the place to discuss what transpired at a political rally, he said. He encouraged the crowd of angry residents who were mostly youth to show restraint. 

Matsaakgang members however opined that there was no way the issue could be discussed outside the Kgotla as it related to the tribe and the welfare of the Kgosi.

“The insults may have been said at a political rally but they affect the tribe, and tribal issues are discussed in the Kgotla,” one of the residents said. 

Letsholathebe however, prevailed over the tribe not to discuss the matter in the Kgotla.  The crowd identified a neutral spot a stonesthrow away from the Kgotla where consensus was reached to select three representatives who would ask Batawana regent, who is also Tawana’s elder sister, Kealetile Moremi to give permission to the tribe to discuss the issue at the Kgotla today. The concerned Batawana have said they want President Ian Khama to publicly apologise to Kgosi Moremi and the tribe on the way he and BDP spoke about the kgosikgolo.