Kgamane tongue-tied in Tutume, Magapatona controversy
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday December 6, 2019 14:31
The 341 applicants led by Edward Moabi are praying with the court to declare Magapatona as a standalone village and not a ward in Tutume villageas is the case now.
The applicants also want the position of their headman of arbitration to be elevated to headman of records. They contend that the failure to upgrade the position of their Kgosi lowers his stature before other headmen of arbitration in Magapatona who are his subordinates.
According to the applicants, prior and after Independence, they have always known Magapatona as a village while Tutume is just a name of a river.
When giving evidence in chief before Justice Bengbame Sechele, Kgamane stated that he wrote a letter communicating that Magapatona ward should be upgraded from being a ward to a standalone village because he was under pressure from the then Assistant Minister of Local Government and MP for Nkange, Ambrose Masalila.
According to government’s position, Magapatona is one of the wards within Tutume that are under the Nkange constituency.
“I was supervised by my bosses who put me under pressure, hence I wrote this letter under duress because of pressure from Masalila…” said Kgamane when questioned by Tholego Monthe from the Attorney General (AG) who is representing the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
However, Kgamane was at sixes and sevens when being cross-examined by the applicants’ attorney Tshekiso Tshekiso.
Tshekiso put it to Kgamane that he was not acting under any undue pressure from Masalila to accept the applicants’ requests. Tshekiso also put it to Kgamane that in 2008, he (Kgamane) took a decision to upgrade Magapatona and its Kgosi (Chief) to which Kgamane replied in the affirmative.
When asked by Tshekiso that when he did so, was he not exercising the powers that were vested on him by government, Kgamane replied: “There were some challenges that I encountered. I have already explained that the matter was sensitive since it was my first time to deal with a matter like it.”
Quizzed further by Tshekiso that he took the decision to do so after consultations that exceeded three years, Kgamane said: “Yes but I explained that I did not take the decisions alone…”
Asked again by Tshekiso that he did not lodge a complaint against Masalila with the minister because he knew that what he said was not the case, Kgamane did not exactly answer the question.
In stead he said: “The issues were taken from me to the office of the then Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe then ultimately to the office of the then President Ian Khama…”
When Tshekiso later asked Kgamane to state the name(s) of people that the latter felt he took a wrong decision because of them to accept the requests of the applicants, Kgamane boldly said that he could not mention those name(s).
Kgamane also admitted that he once attended a meeting in Nkange that was addressed by Khama concerning the same Magapatona issue.
Asked by Tshekiso if he still recalled that at the same meeting he (Kgamane) told Khama that he was surprised why the Magapatona issue was still not resolved, Kgamane answered in the affirmative. Kgamane also said that he could not remember what Khama said verbatim regarding the Magapatona issue.
He said so after Tshekiso put it to him that at the same meeting, Khama said the issues of Magapatona should be solved and if mistakes were made, those mistakes should rectified later.
Asked by Tshekiso if he still remembered that the letter written to him was not an order but a request, Kgamane replied: “I can’t differentiate between a request and an order because when Masalila wrote that letter, he was both an MP for Nkange and an assistant minister of Local Government under which my office falls.”
Quizzed if he still remembered the letter that Masalila wrote to him entitled: “Request to upgrade some Dikgotla in Nkange” and ended with, “I shall be grateful if the proposals are accepted,” which clearly showed that Masalila did not put him under pressure, Kgamane answered in the affirmative.
Tshekiso then put it to Kgamane that there was no basis for him (Kgamane) to assume that he was under pressure when he acceded to the applicants’ request because if he felt that Masalila was putting him under duress, he could have escalated the matter to the minister.
However, Kgamane left the court and scores of Magapatona residents wondering what his answer was because he did not respond to what Tshekiso asked him.
Before being cross-examined by Tshekiso, Kgamane said that he knew that both Magapatona and Selolwane were wards within Tutume, reiterating that duo were mere wards under Tutume and they would remain as such.
Justice Sechele will deliver judgement in the matter on April 14, 2020.