At last Bazezuru get help

PINI BOTHOKO
Correspondent | Thursday May 9, 2013 00:00

 

These BaZezuru have been in Botswana even before independence and they were supposed to have been issued Omangs a long time ago but the department of immigration delayed this process.Finally the Assistant Director of Immigration and Citizenship, Solomon Sedumedi, has conceded that the BaZezuru could have been issued Omangs a long time back but there was an inexplicable resistance from officers at the immigration department.

In an interview with Mandunyane councillor Bathoeng Maseko last week, he elatedly revealed that the BaZezuru have finally been getting the necessary assistance from the immigration department.He said this was a good turn of events as the white-clad community has been living a miserable life without identity cards or passports and not able to enjoy government programmes like other Batswana.'I have had sleepless nights in my area as this tribe occupies a large tract of land and have a ward in Mandunyane. They were not given due recognition as they did not have legal documents to prove their citizenry,' he said.

He said they (BaZezuru) have been disadvantaged for sometime but since the visit of Labour and Home Affairs Minister Edwin Batshu to Maseka ward last year, they were being assisted as he promised.  At that Kgotla meeting, Batshu promised the BaZezuru that he would send a delegation from the immigration department to address their issues.Maseko said that the majority of them had applied for Omangs and passports and are now waiting for the documents.'They were assessed and helped with filling the forms for Omangs and passports. Some have been issued their Omangs as we speak.I am so happy that finally there is peace in the village,' said Maseko.Sedumedi was scathing about what he saw as a mistake by department of Immigration staff to have been unable to assist the BaZezuru to acquire their ID and travel documents.

'Minister Batshu sent a team to the village that I was part of. We established faults that were there and addressed them.'We took a week assisting them and 38 people have been assisted with 20 confirmed and waiting for assistance. I promise that we will assist them accordingly,' he said.  He confirmed that some of them had been issued Omangs before, but the Immigration officers later confiscated them.'This showed that staff were not doing their job. It is against the law for someone to have his or her Omangs confiscated,' said Sedumedi. Maseka ward headman Samuel Mooketsi was overwhelmed with happiness saying peace and contentment now reigns supreme in the village.

'Yes it is true. We are happy we are being assisted to obtain legal documents to prove our identity as Batswana.The majority of us have been assisted. We now have our Omang. Others are presently being assistsed at the immigration offices,' said Mooketsi.Mooketsi applauded the government saying his subjects now felt they were part of the country and could vote like other Batswana.He went on to promise that they would work cooperatively with the government and department of immigration and citizenship for the process to be finalised.