Kgosi Mosadi beats the patriarchal obstacles
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday June 18, 2021 16:50
The land in question is the Forest Hill Farm just in the outskirts of Gaborone. The Gaborone High Court recently ruled that, “the tribe is the rightful owner of a Kgale farm, located south of Gaborone.”
The Balete Land Board had laid claim to the land propelling Kgosi Mosadi to take up a legal fight on behalf of the people of Gamalete. Seboko had maintained that Balete had bought the disputed land and it should not be easily taken away from them. Now, as the dust settles after a legal round that went to Kgosi Mosadi and the tribe, a pertinent question is who really is Kgosi Mosadi? She is the oldest child of the late Bamalete then paramount chief, Mokgosi II.
Kgosi Mosadi is described as an indefatigable fighter whose record speaks for itself. In many of her battles, records show that her bar was raised higher than a woman would ordinarily go. She is not new to these gruelling fights.
After a lengthy battle against the Setswana tradition that afforded patriarchy more respect, Seboko turned the tables when she ascended to the tribal chieftainship after a lengthy battle for the throne. She faced strong headwinds against her rise to the highest position at the tribal kgotla in Ramotswa.
Mosadi’s fight to claim what she called “birth right and equity“ was endorsed by her mother and female siblings who backed up her Balete chieftainship bid. She made history as the first-born child by breaking the male dominance of tribal chieftainship.
For a long time prior to her ascension, the Setswana culture and tradition, shunned women assuming positions of tribal leadership. The single mother of four would later assume the seat of traditional power in 2002 taking over from her uncle who had acted in the position before her ascension. She would later become the first female paramount chief to be appointed in Botswana’s history.
As if that was not enough, Mosadi would later be elected by Ntlo-ya-Dikgosi as its 12th chairperson. Ntlo-ya-Dikgosi’s duties amongst others entail advising government and Parliament on issues of custom and tradition. Journals show that Mosadi, the first of nine children of the late Kgosi Mokgosi II, challenged the patriarchal norms of endorsing male chiefs and was accepted after a bitter legal feud.
After her then ascension to the chieftainship, Mosadi was quoted thanking her tribe: “You were able to transcend the gender imbalance that many are still grappling and installed me not because I am a woman, but rather on the basis of birth right equity.”
The Balete paramount chief is a cultural icon of note who respects dynamic tribal customs. Perhaps as proof of her firm belief in tradition, she regularly adorns traditional attire complete with a headscarf. She is also a great orator who communicates fluently in both Setswana and English.
To many women she is a role model and she continues to inspire both the young and the elderly. She is described as a fighter whose fight against human rights violations stands out.
She is also a firm believer in the principle of consultation. The Balete chief is also considered, “too outspoken in defence of her rights and articulation of other important roles.“ Mosadi has also been consistently articulating issues of gender equity at different fora.
Athaliah Molokomme, Ambassador and Botswana’s permanent representative to the UN and former High Court judge once said this about Mosadi’s ascension: “The institution of chieftainship and the installation of Botswana’s first woman paramount chief cannot be seen in isolation from the tremendous socioeconomic changes that have taken place in our country and the world.”
Molokomme is also a renowned women’s rights activist in affirmation of her human rights defence. Seboko divorced her husband of six years in 1978 because the husband was “abusive”. Since this advent, she has never stopped condemning abuse of women and girl children, the subject she now pursues with much vigour.