Mahatma Gandhi once said “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.
Mahatma’s statement sums up the story of King Kgafela Kgafela II’s, the Bakgatla ba Kgafela King who embarked on a new agenda of change for his tribe.┬á Kgafela Kgafela II has seen it all, has had his plan of uniting and bringing together his tribe for a common goal and purpose being hijacked and crumbled. His project rubbed some jealous politicians the wrong way and some went to the extent of making reckless and insensitive remarks with deliberate intension to sow seed of discord more especially against the Bakgatla ba Kgafela. The upsurges in popular protest against Bakgatla project in particular a project to reclaim self and their dignity was viewed with great suspicion that culminated into a series of legal suit against him, his tribesmen and other royals.
 
After Regional Magistrate Barnabas Nyamadzabo committed King Kgafela Kgafela II, his brother Morena Mmusi together with other Bakgatla ba Kgafela royals and tribesmen for remand pending their trial, one legal eagle remarked ‘This will be a long remembered judgment with shame and as one of the most discreditable affairs in the history of our judicial system of this land.’ What is wrong with our judicial system? He continued ‘This is criminal and we cannot let this rot continue’ ‘ A man must be hanged’ for his wrong doings but justice must be fair’ ‘ What I have witnessed today is the worst crime ever in the history of our judicial system and god forbid, I may have to hang my robe and trade it with something else. Not this!!! ‘Never before as a practicing lawyer have I ever witnessed a presiding magistrate assume the role of a prosecutor and sentencing someone on the basis of hearsay and on news paper articles. ‘If the judiciary will dispense injustice by handing down perverted pieces of judgment which smack of subverting the people’s government’ then this is the saddest day in our judicial system indeed’. This impartiality and the rot are unfortunate.
 
This was four years ago.┬á After four years JUSTICE has finally being served but sadly it has come at a price. It has been four years of misery and pain. Chief Magistrate Lenah Mokibe Oahile has passed judgment and the Bakgatla tribes men have been acquitted from what one may call trumped up charge, “escaping from lawful custody”. It is VICTORY at last; however, the SAD reality is that King Kgafela Kgafela the Great is not in the country, he is now in South Africa and commonly referred to as a fugitive.┬á
 
King Kgafela Kgafela II’s remand in custody was met with great excitement, no one wanted to miss the historic moments and many people did not want to be outdone. It was indeed a week of fun to some people, politicians alike and some even going to the extent of speaking diatribe and making false statement that King Kgafela Kgafela the Great was embarking on a dangerous mission of creating a state within a state.┬á He wanted to secede and some even going to the extent of out rightly being economical with truth. THEY JUST LIED.Some even became reckless, out rightly irresponsible, engaged in petty gossip and even suggested that KK KKII wanted to commit crime of the highest order and incite violence, Mere sell outs who think they can now be trusted and voted into political office.
 
The curtain had fallen down in Kgatleng and at a packed Kgotla meeting in Mochudi to brief the tribe on the state of affairs and the remand of their King, one old man possibly in his 80s could not contain his frustrations and anger. He burst into Afrikaans “Die skelms jelle mot frostan ek ne sook lawlessness yie so.┬á It was a sad day indeed and poor Bakgatla became subjects of ridicule and abuse. At work places it was worse. Bakgatla became part and parcel of institutional corridor gossip and in some cases people just dramatized the whole issue.┬á All the events that transpired made me recall the speech that was made by His Excellency President Ian Khama at the coronation of King Tawana Moremi as King of Batawana in 1995, then he was still commander of the Botswana Defense Force (BDF).┬á In his speech, Khama talked about the toxic hate, finger pointing and foul mouthing that were prevalent in the country. He warned that such negativity was an indication of a society that was coming apart. He went on to say “We live in a time when jealousy of one another is going to self-destruct our nation” (Midweek Sun, 5th July 1995:1).
 
The back biting, finger pointing and foul mouthing that Khama talked about has become so pervasive. Unfortunately and shamefully this jealousy and finger-pointing does not know boundaries, it is practiced by almost everyone, irrespective of color, race or creed. Although some people may claim self righteousness, sadly they seem incapable of differentiating between forthrightness and abusiveness. 
 
Amongst the many people who have been subjected to severe finger pointing and foul mouthing is none other than King Kgafela Kgafela II. The youthful Kgosi became a subject of debate after introducing reforms in Kgatleng that had positive outlook.┬á Amongst the many positive reforms that King Kgafela II introduced is the spirit of selfÔÇôreliance, respect amongst one another and elders, moral degeneration and re-introduction of traditional initiation rites (Bogwera&Bojale). All these must be noted that King Kgafela Kgafela II introduced after he was given the mandate by his tribe to do so. Ironically the reforms introduced by Kgafela in Kgatleng were reflected in the recommendations passed by the Puso Commission, the Presidential Task Force that was set up by President Ian Khama in 2008.┬á As part of the recommendations, Dikgosi were tasked with re-introducing traditional initiation rites in all their communities as this has been helpful in discipline, peer education and up-bringing of their children and could be done during the school holidays.
 
King Kgafela Kgafela II is however, a good and honest man who unfortunately was made to walk through a tight political rope. King Kgafela Kgafela II is a visionary; he is a hero and simply a trend setter who was misunderstood mainly some jealous politicians. The primary intensions of the jealous politicians were mainly to cut the kings wings, they failed to engage him and saw his initiatives as a threat and competing with their own.┬á The only thing that these jealous paranoid politicians could do was to use their political powers to make The King walk through the tight political rope and the rest is HISTORY.┬á┬á Bakgatla ba Kgafela today have cried out loud to the powers that be, speaking with one voice “BRING BACK OUR KING”. They have presented their petition and have said their prayers, they want their King, and Botswana also needs him. Bakgatla ba Kgafela have presented their petition asking the highest political office to forgive and forget. To this day nothing has been done and one wonders as to whether something will ever be done, despite the promise that was made to them in 2012.┬á One can only hope and wish for the best for social justice to take cause and not criminal justice.
 
The onus is now on President Ian Khama to use the powers conferred to him by the constitution to lift the charges against KK KKII.┬á His action by lifting the charges against KK KKII will be a welcome development one done in the spirit of reconciliation. That is what father figures are for and this could possibly allay the suspicions from many commentators that the principal reason for pursuing the King was not inspired by human rights violations as the nation was hoodwinked into believing but rather some significant politicians surreptitiously pushed for litigation against KK KK II. As Khama rightly put it “We live in a time when jealousy of one another is going to self destruct our nation”.
 
Whilst KK KKII may have been subjected to political ridicule, he has however, been calm, some people even call him “ Little Mandela”, he has remained focused, he makes mention of that in his book “The Kings Journal” under title heading “Eye of the Storm”. In the final analysis it is very clear that the shrinking political space within which Dikgosi operate has also undermined their ability to mobilize and accumulate the political currency necessary for them to effect change. The defining moment for Bogosi in general is what King Kgafela Kgafela II presented.┬á There is an urgent need for Batswana to stand up and must open their eyes and must not allow themselves to be hoodwinked by politicians. They must know that politics is a short term lease and therefore, should not be fooled and abused by politicians to despise Dikgosi. Dikgosi must be protected from abuse and misuse by politicians and their hangers on as Abraham Lincoln once said “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time”, for nothings strengthens authority so much as silence.
 
*Thabo Lucas Seleke is a Scholar & Researcher
