The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

Exiled BaKgatla Ba Kgafela Sovereign, Kgosikgolo Kgafela II will address BaKgatla and Batswana at large virtually Thursday morning (12th December 2024) at 9 am from Leobo la Kgotla in Mochudi.

Not only is Kgafela the only Kgosi that has written a congratulatory message to President Duma Boko, he also dispatched a high-powered delegation to Boko’s inauguration on November 8th comprising his sons, Matshego and Tebele, the King’s Spokesman, Phalafala Maname and Otsile Molefe, a MoKgatla man.

This was to show support for the new government and hope in it. Kgafela’s congratulatory message was inspired by the fact that he is a human rights lawyer who just like Advocate Boko whom he went to school with, has in collaboration with Ditshwanelo – the Botswana Centre for Human Rights – saved Basarwa deathrow inmates before.

Kgafela was compelled to prove through the congratulatory note to the new government, which he has been in touch with even before the President’s inauguration, that he is with them, and is available to help build a foundation for the new government that touts respect for human rights as its mantra.

Kgafela, in exile since 2012, has appealed to former President Mokgweetsi Masisi not once, but on several occasions, about his expired O Mang, Passport and Driver’s license lamenting that he could not come to Botswana to renew them because of the pending charges against him, but was rebuffed.

But while in exile Kgafela has continued to show his commitment to human rights by advocating for the release of a Motswana deathrow inmate in Bangladesh, Lesego Molapisi.

Kgafela’s Spokesman, Maname says Kgosikgolo Kgafela has protected and defended BaKgatla’s cultural rights in Botswana and South Africa against powerful governments of the Botswana Democratic Party and African National Congress.

He has also singled out the Botswana Constitution as the major impediment for Botswana’s progress, as it oppresses Batswana. Former President Masisi made an attempt to review the Constitution, but the attempt was shot down as lame and not far-reaching.

The current government has now promised to undertake a comprehensive review of the Constitution. Certainly Kgafela shook the foundations of BDP government since his enthronement in September 2008 until his exile in 2012, an indication that he is a resource that the current government can tap from.

Boko’s administration is being watched keenly by BaKgatla whether it will extend an olive branch to Kgafela II in the same breath that it did to South African citizens, Julius Malema, Floyd Chivambu, Bridgette Motsepe and the American actor, Rick Yuine among many others who include Kali Mercier, Fiona Watson, Jennifer Lins Bell, Stephen Corry and Gordon Bennett.

To date, the new Botswana administration has not responded either by word of mouth or in writing to Kgafela’s kind overtures, including his gestures of sending a high-powered delegation to the inauguration.

Surprisingly, whilst still an opposition party, the leaders of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and Alliance for Progressives used to attend Heritage Day celebrations in Moruleng where Kgafela would preside over BaKgatla cultural celebrations.

Kgafela’s return to Botswana would also add impetus to government’s efforts to review and re-enact Bogosi Act and Customary Courts Act – two colonial relics that have stalled progress in respect of regulation of customary and traditional affairs.

Maname disclosed that Kgafela will give an update on general royal issues such as the case of Ramono Linchwe.

(C) TPA2024