03 Apr 2014

The idiom ‘all hell broke loose’ could perhaps apply without a glitch to the misfortunes of the ruined Mmankgodi Study Group that used to attract eager learners from all over the Kweneng region and the country as a whole back in the 1980’s.

Although the study group used to be a marvel for the small community of Mmankgodi, today, the name Mmankgodi Study Group represents a dilapidated structure that is slowly stealing away peace from the village.

“The study group has been stolen from the community,” said the chief’s representative, Kgosi States Letlole, adding that the study group was a community project built through community members’ contributions.

And all hell broke loose when people who were entrusted with the running of the study group decided to loot it to the state it is in today denying the community the great opportunity to use it, pointed out the traditional leader.

“These people were entrusted with the properties of morafe, but they took advantage,” he pointed. The school later collapsed owing to bad management and all of its properties which included a hall, chairs and tables were never returned to the community.

Nevertheless, the dispute did not wither away, it rather became a thorny issue that none of the contesting factions is willing to let it go without a fierce battle.

“We are prepared to go to court to defend our position, kana mathata ke gore Kgosi o a se batla,” uttered Mr Jerry Tau, one of those accused of dispossessing the community of its property.

To quash the idea of community ownership, Mr Tau is in possession of various letters bearing B.L Thobega, Jerry Tau, Kemmonye Masego and Sealobeng Kruger as its custodians.

“The community never owned the school, the community never contributed to it, it is our own project,” he said flashing various documents without appearing to being bothered at all.

Among those documents are the affidavits sworn before the commissioner of oaths indicating the owners and a 50-year lease from the Kweneng Land Board.

All these documents were addressed to Mmankgodi Study Group through its chairperson Mr B.L Thobega.

Interestingly, the study group was never registered as a company though it operated as a private institution from 1987 until it closed in 2006, when the Ministry of Education clamped down on bogus schools.

Even after its closure, there have been efforts to investigate the real owners of the school but all failed to give conclusive answers.

The latest being a commission instructed by the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development Mr Patrick Masimolole, but it could also not hand the school to the community.

“Hare kare mathata ke gore kgosi o a se batla, you can quote me on that one,” Mr Tau added his bitterness.

In his thinking, the community might be lobbying for the study group because it was once named Thobega Study Group.

However, the royal name tag did not last as the government built a school in the village and the community collectively named the new school Thobega Community Junior School. This decision forced the study group managers to opt for the name Mmankgodi Study Group.

“This gave the community the impression that they own the study group,” Mr Tau said.

Further, he relayed that it is his desire to revive the school in the not so distant future, with or without the blessing of the royal house.

Yet on the contrary, the royal house vowed not to rest until the community gets hold of the school that they contributed to build.

And as the school remains shut, so are the future of hundreds of Mmankgodi youth who could be enhancing their qualifications at the study group.

For a fact, Mmankgodi schools have been recording worst performances nationally. In the last junior certificate examination, Thobega Community Junior School recorded a 26 pass rate, whereas Letlole Primary School recorded 36 per cent.

Mmonye Primary was the only school to record better results at 71 per cent at primary school leaving examinations.

To worsen the situation, Kagiso Senior School in Ramotswa, which admits the bulk of Mmankgodi students, has been performing badly.  The school was ranked the second worst in the country from the latest Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education Examination.

All these point for the need for tutoring services for leaners in that village and its surrounding. “We will eventually open,” said Mr Tau. But how they will manoeuvre the conflict remains a mystery. ENDS