Chobe District (4)

In our last instalment we had noted that, following Sebetwane’s death, the Makololo kingdom declined during the reign of his son Sekeletu, who had succeeded his father following a brief regency by his elder sister Dikuku or MmaMotsisane (Mamochisane).

Sekeletu suffered from leprosy, becoming a recluse, while many of his father’s original followers continued to die of malaria at Linyandi. A Makololo general named Mpololo tried to assume power following Sekeletu’s death in 1863, but, his heavy-handed attempt to suppress the Malozi, who were heirs to the region’s earlier Aluya rulers, led to a wider uprising under the leadership of Njekwa.