Tribalism is in Botswana's DNA
In the current public spat between former president Ian Khama and current President Mokgweetsi Masisi, the nation seems to have lost its head. Most analysts, commentators and all sorts of "experts" agree on one thing - Ian Khama is to blame, because he resorted to tribalism to fight a political "war". Nobody bothers to think; not even newspaper columnists with a PhD who continuously peddle this trash. Everybody conveniently overlooks the fact that Ian Khama, just like the Republic he once ruled, is an embodiment of tribalism itself. Ian Khama does not have to invoke tribalism. As a "paramount chief" of one of the largest Tribal Territories (TT) he wears tribalism everywhere he goes. At Botswana's attainment of "independence" in 1966, the colonialists passed onto us a country wrapped in a giant tribal gift wrap. Unfortunately, instead of rejecting the tribal present, WE ALLOWED THE SO-CALLED FOUNDING FATHERS to accept the tribal gift on our behalf. Prominent among the so-called founding fathers of course were Sir Seretse Khama and Sir Ketumile Masire.
Today the monster of tribalism is tearing our country apart. That much is clear from the comments made concerning the "feud" between the former president Ian Khama and the current, Mokgweetsi Masisi. Neither of these gentlemen however, introduced tribalism into the national political discourse. Tribalism was intergrated into the national fabric, hence constitution by our first president, Sir Seretse Khama. It has since been retained, refined and expertly exploited by his successor at the presidency, Sir Ketumile Masire.
Before I delve into the origins of tribalism in our motherland, let me remind readers that the tribal monster was introduced into the current presidential succession debate by none other than Sir Ketumile Masire himself, when he declared that the current President, Mokgweetsi Masisi, deserves the position because he is a "Southerner". The significance of Sir Ketumile's declaration may have escaped some observers, but not genuine republican nationalists. Sir Ketumile was laying down his view of what constitutes the Republic of Botswana - those tribes for whom the geographical divide is the Dibete cordon fence. We know what tribes these are. It's the Tswana speaking tribes. This is the only divide that puts all former presidents, (with the exception of Sir Ketumile himself) in the North, and the current President Mokgweetsi Masisi, in the South. Sir Ketumile did not recognise non-Tswana speaking tribes as deserving of the office of President of the Republic of Botswana. I am speaking here of Kalanga-speaking Banyai, Kalanga-speaking Bakhwa, Kalanga-speaking Baperi, Kalanga-speaking Bahumbe, Kalanga-speaking Bakwena, Yei-speaking Bayei, Nambdza-speaking Banambdza, Subiya-speaking Basubiya; Naro-speaking Bakhwa, Zulu-speaking Banyai, Bayela etc.
A story has been told of how Sir Ketumile commissioned some people to investigate what were the original uncorrupted versions of names of places in Botswana, with a view to reverting to such names. The list that the commissioners compiled was almost exclusively Kalanga names, just as it should be, given that we were all originally Kalangas anyway. The commission was quietly disbanded, and its findings buried. Some opine that by setting up such a commission, Sir Ketumile already knew what its findings would be, but simply wanted the hoi polloi to know that WE ARE ALL KALANGAS AFTER ALL. While this may well have been Sir Ketumile's motivation, I can't help wondering why the findings were not, at the very least, published before being buried. To me the whole thing reeks of a shock to Sir Ketumile, and a resultant need to cover up the demographic implications by hiding the list.
Tribalism of the kind that we experience in Botswana and other African countries, was introduced by the colonialists. Ask yourself: If indeed the current "tribes" existed prior to the arrival of the British colonialists, why did the colonialists have to draw Tribal Territory (TT) boundaries? This action of the colonialists suggests that there were no TT boundaries. And yet we know that the "tribes", as opposed to the TT's, have been in existence ever since man came into existence at Mapungubwe. Therefore the "tribes" that the colonialists found were non-antagonistic logical entities whose origins date back to the work-groups of the Anunnaki. The tribes lived side by side, intermarried, and had no problem assigning a tribal identity to the offspring of mixed marriages. The offspring simply assumed the totem/tribe of their fathers. People married and people divorced. Children were born out of wedlock, though in lesser numbers than today. Some children were brought up by their maternal uncles, and yet tribally, they still identified themselves by their totems. Every child was brought up to be proud not only of his/her paternal tribe, but of his/her matenal tribe as well. IT WAS NEITHER DESIRABLE NOR PRACTICABLE TO HAVE HARD BORDERS BETWEEN, OR AMONG TRIBES.
Within the boundaries that the colonialists drew as a Tribal Territory (TT) were people of many different tribes. The colonialists needed a new tribal format. They wanted a tribe based solely on OBEDIENCE to, and acceptance of, the colonial master's overrule. Therefore within the TT they designated the most obedient tribal leader, the "paramount chief", and his tribe the "principal tribe". This was done regardless of whether the tribe of the "paramount chief" was numerically the largest within that TT or not.
What should have happened at our attainment of Independence is that the TTs should have been summarily disbanded. Everything possible should have been done to ensure that the "tribes" as conceived and implemented by the colonialists, ceased to exist, and that tribal identity reverted back to the logical group nomenclature that had its origin in the work groups of the Anunnaki.The reason why that was not done was simple: Seretse Khama, the paramount chief designated by the colonialists as the Prime Minister of newly established "Botswana" could not accept a constitution that disbanded the very TTs from which he derived his "paramountcy". In other words, while the country was in theory proclaimed a Republic, in reality it remained the same tribally based British protectorate that the colonialists had turned it into.
Our country's national anthem calls on us to live in peace. This is a clear indication that beneath the apparent "peaceful" co-existence of our post-colonial tribes hostile undercurrents flow, thanks to the TTs. Since the TT tribes are all Tswana-speaking, it is no wonder that peoplle like the late Sir Ketumile Masire view Botswana as "land of the Tswanas", and accordingly consider the North/South divide to be Dibete and not Serule as it rightly is. The current attempts by the Tswana-speaking tribes to forcibly assimilate all other tribes "so that we all speak the same language - Tswana" will not bear any fruit as long as TTs continue to exist in our country. The tribal friction between the Manaana Bakgatla and the Bakwena; between the Bakhurutshe of Manyana and the Bangwaketse attests to the futility of the assimilation exercise. All these are Tswana-speaking tribes but they are constantly at each other's throats, the reason being that the TT accommodating the Manaana Bakgatla is named after the Bakwena, while that accommodating the Bakhurutshe of Manyana is named after the Bangwaketse.
And so any future national dialogue on reform/rewriting of the constitution should start with ABOLISHING OF TRIBAL TERRITORIES (TTs). I challenge all political parties to explicitly state in their 2019 Election manifestos that if elected they will ABOLISH TRIBAL TERRITORIES.
Today the monster of tribalism is tearing our country apart. That much is clear from the comments made concerning the "feud" between the former president Ian Khama and the current, Mokgweetsi Masisi. Neither of these gentlemen however, introduced tribalism into the national political discourse. Tribalism was intergrated into the national fabric, hence constitution by our first president, Sir Seretse Khama. It has since been retained, refined and expertly exploited by his successor at the presidency, Sir Ketumile Masire.
Before I delve into the origins of tribalism in our motherland, let me remind readers that the tribal monster was introduced into the current presidential succession debate by none other than Sir Ketumile Masire himself, when he declared that the current President, Mokgweetsi Masisi, deserves the position because he is a "Southerner". The significance of Sir Ketumile's declaration may have escaped some observers, but not genuine republican nationalists. Sir Ketumile was laying down his view of what constitutes the Republic of Botswana - those tribes for whom the geographical divide is the Dibete cordon fence. We know what tribes these are. It's the Tswana speaking tribes. This is the only divide that puts all former presidents, (with the exception of Sir Ketumile himself) in the North, and the current President Mokgweetsi Masisi, in the South. Sir Ketumile did not recognise non-Tswana speaking tribes as deserving of the office of President of the Republic of Botswana. I am speaking here of Kalanga-speaking Banyai, Kalanga-speaking Bakhwa, Kalanga-speaking Baperi, Kalanga-speaking Bahumbe, Kalanga-speaking Bakwena, Yei-speaking Bayei, Nambdza-speaking Banambdza, Subiya-speaking Basubiya; Naro-speaking Bakhwa, Zulu-speaking Banyai, Bayela etc.
A story has been told of how Sir Ketumile commissioned some people to investigate what were the original uncorrupted versions of names of places in Botswana, with a view to reverting to such names. The list that the commissioners compiled was almost exclusively Kalanga names, just as it should be, given that we were all originally Kalangas anyway. The commission was quietly disbanded, and its findings buried. Some opine that by setting up such a commission, Sir Ketumile already knew what its findings would be, but simply wanted the hoi polloi to know that WE ARE ALL KALANGAS AFTER ALL. While this may well have been Sir Ketumile's motivation, I can't help wondering why the findings were not, at the very least, published before being buried. To me the whole thing reeks of a shock to Sir Ketumile, and a resultant need to cover up the demographic implications by hiding the list.
Tribalism of the kind that we experience in Botswana and other African countries, was introduced by the colonialists. Ask yourself: If indeed the current "tribes" existed prior to the arrival of the British colonialists, why did the colonialists have to draw Tribal Territory (TT) boundaries? This action of the colonialists suggests that there were no TT boundaries. And yet we know that the "tribes", as opposed to the TT's, have been in existence ever since man came into existence at Mapungubwe. Therefore the "tribes" that the colonialists found were non-antagonistic logical entities whose origins date back to the work-groups of the Anunnaki. The tribes lived side by side, intermarried, and had no problem assigning a tribal identity to the offspring of mixed marriages. The offspring simply assumed the totem/tribe of their fathers. People married and people divorced. Children were born out of wedlock, though in lesser numbers than today. Some children were brought up by their maternal uncles, and yet tribally, they still identified themselves by their totems. Every child was brought up to be proud not only of his/her paternal tribe, but of his/her matenal tribe as well. IT WAS NEITHER DESIRABLE NOR PRACTICABLE TO HAVE HARD BORDERS BETWEEN, OR AMONG TRIBES.
Within the boundaries that the colonialists drew as a Tribal Territory (TT) were people of many different tribes. The colonialists needed a new tribal format. They wanted a tribe based solely on OBEDIENCE to, and acceptance of, the colonial master's overrule. Therefore within the TT they designated the most obedient tribal leader, the "paramount chief", and his tribe the "principal tribe". This was done regardless of whether the tribe of the "paramount chief" was numerically the largest within that TT or not.
What should have happened at our attainment of Independence is that the TTs should have been summarily disbanded. Everything possible should have been done to ensure that the "tribes" as conceived and implemented by the colonialists, ceased to exist, and that tribal identity reverted back to the logical group nomenclature that had its origin in the work groups of the Anunnaki.The reason why that was not done was simple: Seretse Khama, the paramount chief designated by the colonialists as the Prime Minister of newly established "Botswana" could not accept a constitution that disbanded the very TTs from which he derived his "paramountcy". In other words, while the country was in theory proclaimed a Republic, in reality it remained the same tribally based British protectorate that the colonialists had turned it into.
Our country's national anthem calls on us to live in peace. This is a clear indication that beneath the apparent "peaceful" co-existence of our post-colonial tribes hostile undercurrents flow, thanks to the TTs. Since the TT tribes are all Tswana-speaking, it is no wonder that peoplle like the late Sir Ketumile Masire view Botswana as "land of the Tswanas", and accordingly consider the North/South divide to be Dibete and not Serule as it rightly is. The current attempts by the Tswana-speaking tribes to forcibly assimilate all other tribes "so that we all speak the same language - Tswana" will not bear any fruit as long as TTs continue to exist in our country. The tribal friction between the Manaana Bakgatla and the Bakwena; between the Bakhurutshe of Manyana and the Bangwaketse attests to the futility of the assimilation exercise. All these are Tswana-speaking tribes but they are constantly at each other's throats, the reason being that the TT accommodating the Manaana Bakgatla is named after the Bakwena, while that accommodating the Bakhurutshe of Manyana is named after the Bangwaketse.
And so any future national dialogue on reform/rewriting of the constitution should start with ABOLISHING OF TRIBAL TERRITORIES (TTs). I challenge all political parties to explicitly state in their 2019 Election manifestos that if elected they will ABOLISH TRIBAL TERRITORIES.
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