Sekai prefers divine intervention to end royal factions

Deputy Kgosi Sekai Linchwe’s impassioned plea on churches to pray for unity in the “ba bogosi” camp is something peace loving people can embrace provided he was not playing to the public gallery when he made the plea.  He was speaking at the funeral of his relative, Selekanyo Linchwe, nee Gaborone in Mochudi on October 28. He was heard by among other prominent people, Seingwaeng Kgafela, Bakgatle Kgafela, Mmusi Kgafela who also doubles as Minister of Trade and Industry as well as MP for Mochudi West, Kgosi Mothibe who is also the President of Customary Court of Appeal, Kgosi Segale Linchwe and Kgosi Nnyalala Pilane of Moruleng. Sekai openly admitted that all was not well within the “ba bogosi” community. He blamed that on what he called “letimone” saying it had ripped them apart. Letimoni is something commonly associated with Satan. It is interesting that Sekai sees church prayers as weapons he can use to correct the ills which have created divisions in the “ba bogosi”. These divisions occurred more than a decade ago and now appear to be intensifying. The sacking of Kgosi Segale from the tribal administration about two years ago has added fuel to the already burning fire. It may well be that the decision to sack him was a Satanic act driven by “Letimoni”. By choosing not to let sleeping dogs lie and proceeding to publicly urge churches to pray for unity, Sekai was actually opening a can of worms.

Upon writing this article, I took cue from what Dr. Kenneth Koma said close to 60 years ago in Mochudi during opposition political party unity talks. The split was so serious that it nearly turned Botswana into a one party state. It was in October 1965 when wise men and women did not sit down and think that churches would pray for unity in the opposition. They convened a general assembly where the problems identified were interrogated resulting with the formation of the Botswana National Front (BNF). Delegates were afraid of pinpointing out the real causes of the split in the Botswana People’s Party (BPP) fearing that doing so would open old wounds. Dr. Koma felt otherwise saying it was necessary for delegates to understand the causes of the split so that such factors would be avoided from occurring again in future. This is the route I will follow in this article. It is necessary for the reader to understand the causes of the split in the Mochudi’s royal group.  I will deal with what many people think are the causes of the rift within the royal uncles on the one hand and the decline which existed in the working relationship between Kgosi Kgafela and his younger brothers on the other.