Villagers dispersed at the Merafhe Serowe home
Onalenna Kelebeile | Friday January 9, 2015 16:26
As per tradition, people continued to flock to the Merafhe homestead following the announcement of the passing on of the former vice president.
Prior to the announcement, people just sat in the compound waiting for the normal prayer session, but an announcement would later be made.
One unidentified elder announced, “We have been communicating with the family in Gaborone and we have agreed that no prayer services should be held this side but only in Gaborone in the interim.
“The family will move from Gaborone to Serowe on Wednesday next week and that is when the funeral service will resume here.”
This was positively accepted and the gathering dispersed. Members of the community were also requested to pass the message to others. Among the people who came on Wednesday afternoon was Kgosi Ponatshego Dibokolodi Gaorekwe of Sedimo ward
He (KgosiGaorekwe) came after the death announcement.
He could not comment much on the passing of the former VP except only to say that as the passing has just been announced, there was nothing much to say, but to hear from the family.
He said it was therefore not yet time to say how and when a kgotla meeting would be convened to officially announce the death to the community in the kgotla.
The wife of the deceased was reportedly transported to Gaborone on Wednesday around noon and the villagers held a short prayer to bless her trip.
On Thursday morning before 9 am Merafhe’s home was visibly empty except for a few men who were cleaning the kgotla situated just outside the compound, evidently as part of preparing for the fallen hero’s send off.
The announcement of resumption of the prayer sessions and the relocation of the family from Gaborone to Serowe next week Wednesday somehow restored hope that the funeral would be held in Serowe.
However, some members of the community are still wondering whether Merafhe will be buried in the village or at Tshetlhong cattlepost not very far from Mokgware where his parents’ remains were interred.
At the Bamangwato Tribal Administration it was just work as usual. The Deputy Tribal Authority Kgosi Serogola Seretse said the Office of the President had officially made an announcement and that was sufficient for the whole nation to be informed.
He said therefore there was no arrangement for a kgotla meeting to announce the death, as usually happens when a kgosi dies.
“The OP takes care of incidences involving high profile citizens and retired statesmen like Merafhe therefore we know they have announced and it is sufficient enough,” he said.
An elderly member of the community Gaokgakala Tshekiso said during an interview that though Merafhe is going to rest following a long illness, it is usually painful to lose a person of his calibre who worked tirelessly and contributed immensely to the development of the country.
He said Merafhe served in many portfolios both in the government, private sector and politics. He was hopeful that Merafhe’s legacy would live eternally.
The entire village is just calm and it is business as usual with very little talk on the death among people.
Merafhe’s first initial appointment as a police constable was in 1960. He retired as the VP in 2012. He remained a public servant whose various contributions to Botswana’s progress will be remembered for generations to come.