Govt must bring order in Kgatleng - EFB

| Friday April 23, 2010 00:00

A church has been banned from worship and its leadership illegally lashed at night in the bush. The local fellowship of the EFB pastors have also reported that a number of their churches have also been harassed and their worship meetings disturbed. We call on the government of Botswana, the Human Rights Organisations in Botswana, the Christian and Religious Communities in this land and Batswana as a whole to take note and bear witness to our statement in solidarity.

Whereas the constitution of Botswana grants us freedom of gathering lawfully and freedom of worship to the God of choice, and in the style of choice, this right has been blatantly and forcefully infringed upon in Mochudi by regiments of the Bakgatla chieftainship, and two pastors were lashed at night in the bush after a failed attempt to seize their equipment without their consent and due process of the law. Other member churches in Mochudi have been commanded not to use their public address systems and musical instruments in their worship, while at the same time bars and other traditional churches are not hindered in the noise that they produce. These directives have ignored that legal and lawful permits issued the Kgotla and the Kgatleng District Council bye-law offices had been acquired. Such discrimination is unacceptable, and we rejected it outright. We bag to ask if there are people who are above the law of this land, who can do and act as they please with impunity, because their tribal practices and unwritten laws take precedence over the laws of the Republic of Botswana. We would like to point out that much of the conflicts in Africa are due to tribes that took it upon themselves not to be part of a national culture, who created emotive issues on the basis of cultural preservation to the detriment of national unity and development. If this is the trend, then our peace and democratic values in Botswana are, indeed, at risk.

We would like to point out that more than two thousand years ago the apostle Paul was grabbed and almost killed by a similar group of men who believed that he compromised their religious and cultural beliefs. In the midst of this, the law officers stepped in to apply the law, and required proof to the charges made against Paul. There was a system of doing things two thousand years ago, and we are surprised that in today's world, in a Republic, we do not see any response from the law enforcement agents of this country to bring to book perpetrators that are destroying our democratic national values, and fearlessly treading upon our sacred constitution in the name of their culture. We, therefore, call upon the government of Botswana to act swiftly to restore law and order to ensure that there is a difference between law enforcement officers and tribal regiments who have become a law unto themselves. We call upon instruments of the law such as police officers to guard meetings of potential conflict and exercise their authority for the citizens of this country to freely gather and worship.

In conclusion, it is our sincere belief that our national values, our national vision, and our collective culture as a nation supersedes all other personal opinions and views. It is also our belief that this current standoff can be resolved peacefully provided there is openness and respect for the constitution. Therefore we declare that this ban imposed upon our member church as illegal and without effect, and uncharacteristic of democratic national values.

Our government and nation must not allow Botswana's good record of tolerance to be dented by inaction when basic rights such as freedom of worship as is the case in Mochudi are being violated.

We need to inform the nation that we as the EFB have attempted to discuss the matter amicably with Kgosikgolo Kgafela II, but his office has informed that due to his tight schedule he will not be able to see us for next two weeks. Due to the seriousness of the matter we were left with no option but to seek redress through other avenues.

Lastly, the EFB reserves all its rights at law.

Pastor Biggle ButalePresident - Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana