Matsetsenkane Are Back

Tefo Pheage | Monday December 21, 2015 15:52

But wait before you make conclusions. This time around, Matsetsenkane would be terrorising Thamaga football teams after unanimously agreeing to form a football club to keep them away from a life of terror they have been living.

The gangsters recently travelled to the Okavango under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and Botswana Institute of Rehabilitation and Integration of Offenders (BIRRO) for unwinding, rehabilitation and reintergration into the society after losing themselves to the world of crime that led them to cause havoc in Thamaga and sorrounding areas.

Matsetsenkane’s sojourn in the Okavango was expected to reignite the good in them, bury the emerging devil and to keep them away from the hostile and stigmatised environment following their criminal actions. Most gang members are University of Botswana dropouts. While the move to whisk the gansters for the retreat to the Okavango recieved criticism, some people applauded the ministry and BIRRO for a plan that could bear fruit.

The Monitor has learnt that the facilitators of the trip are on cloud nine with high expectations following what they termed a successful rehabilitation process in Okavango. The gang has formed a football team which shall be based in Thamaga. The team would be monitored and sponsored by the ministry and BIRRO until the ministry decides to part ways with it at a mutually convenient time.

It is further understood that the group would go on confession sessions where they would confess their sins and ask for forgiveness from those they have wronged. It is however not clear whether this would lead to some cases being dropped or what. Other members of the notorious group did not make it to Okavango as they were accounting for their crime in court the day the 36 of their colleagues left to Okavango.

The group arrives today and would head straight to Thamaga where a mini ceremony shall be held to welcome them and re-unite them with their families. The welcome is expected to be graced by the village leadeship, parents, ministry officials and BIRRO leadership.

Members of the group would also get assistance to improve their lives after getting their P700 stipend from the ministry as promised. Some of them are highly likely to be enrolled into the ministry’s business programmes for the youth while others will be assisted according to their wishes and needs.

The District Commissioner, Fredrick Monyakeng, has promised that they would issue a public statement upon arrival to update the nation on their efforts while the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Lewis Malikongwa promised that they would hold a press conference on the matter.

Matsetsenkane and other gangs such as Merubisi, have in recent years been known to terrorise the Thamaga community, committing despicable and horrendous crimes, which left the nation shocked. The notorious gangs, largely made up of school going teenagers led by the fearsome school dropouts, have for the past years taken to beating, maiming, robbing and even killing with impunity.

It was only after the murder of an elderly woman last year November that dikgosi, the community and the police came together and declared they would fight back. For three months after that, the security forces, who included members of the police, the Special Support Group and Botswana Defence Force descended on Thamaga where they immediately restored law and order.