19 Jul 2023

An amicable resolve to a long-standing impasse between Houmoed Kokotsha Horse Racing Association and Kokotsha Community Horse Racing Association remains paramount for the benefit of the community.

The enduring standoff between the two associations saw them stage horse race events simultaneously in one village recently, leaving multitudes of supporters in limbo, having to choose which one to attend.

Speaking at Houmoed grounds, on behalf Tsabong District Council chairperson, Tsabong East Councillor, Peter Megano said Kokotsha Horse Race was a district flagship race with a great potential to develop the village hence the need for the two parties to settle their differences amicably.

“The two associations need to come together and smoke the peace pipe, hold one race, attract more sponsors to develop horse race facilities, build accommodation areas in the field to be able to host supporters comfortably,” Megano said.

He said the stalemate could scare away potential sponsors who could assist in growing the race.

He added that Kokotsha horse race presented many tourism opportunities in a trickle-down effect, including exploration of cultural tourism, wilderness, among others, which could benefit the community.

He thus encouraged organisers to hold steadfast and continue to improve the race for the benefit of the community.

For his part, one of the sponsors who had been able to draw sponsorship to develop Houmoed track as the then Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) president, Rev. Mpho Moruakgomo also called for the two associations to settle their differences.

“It is incumbent upon the duo to smoke the peace pipe and agree on dates to host horse races annually rather than hold two races in one day,” Rev. Moruakgomo said.

He said the deadlock affected community developments that could be done through the horse race, while a split could also scare away sponsors and impede the much needed progress.

“We aspire to see the Kokotsha Horse Race to be in the levels of premier horse races in the neighbouring countries, to be a race of choice, however that could not happen when the village is divided into two as it was currently,” he said.

In an interview, Kokotsha Community Horse Racing Association chairperson, Kabo Medupi said they staged this year’s race in partnership with Kokotsha Village Development committee (VDC).

Medupi said the partnership, aimed at uplifting the community, entailed that VDC benefitted 40 per cent and the association would get another 40, while 20 per cent would go toward horse race track maintenance.

“I am disappointed to see two races hosted on the same day in a small village because of failure to deal with our differences as interested parties.

It was a shame to hold two races in one village simultaneously,” he regretted.

He indicated that they had in the past made efforts in writing to the Houmoed organising committee, bidding to have the two associations work together but that had since hit a snag owing to challenges regarding misuse of funds.

“Funds were unaccounted for and hence unable to produce a clean financial report.

This caused conflicts and we decided to split which was the reason why they had two races at the same time,” he explained. However, he highlighted the need for them to engage each other and find solutions to the problem.

Kgosi Lefoko Kudume of Kokotsha admitted that it was an eyesore to hold two races in a small village at the same time. He promised that he would intervene and bring the two associations together in order to find a lasting solution to the problem.

According to Kgosi Kudume, the horse race initially started in Werda in the 1980s and moved to Kokotsha.

The race was one of the economic avenues for small businesses, hence the need to grow it because it presented numerous value chains in the tourism sector, where arrangements could be made for horse race fanatics to explore tourism parks via game drives in the area after races. Ends