20 Jan 2025

Kgosi Khama IV of Bagammangwato has been sworn in as member of Ntlo ya Dikgosi in line with Section 80 of Botswana’s constitution.

Kgosi Khama took his oath of allegiance today under the facilitation of chairperson of Ntlo ya Dikgosi, Kgosi Malope II of Bangwaketse. He joins the house having served the country in different capacities including as Commander of the Botswana Defence Force, vice president and later as Botswana’s fourth president.

Talking to the business of the house, Kgosi Malope implored dikgosi as leaders to deliberate deeply and extensively on issues of national interest affecting their communities such as gender-based violence (GBV). He said the rising statistics of GBV were a cause for concern, observing that reports from the Botswana Police Service showed that from December 19, 2024 to January 2 this year, 60 cases of rape, 19 of murder and 13 of defilement were recorded.

“These statistics paint a distressing picture of Gender-Based Violence during the holiday period in Botswana, therefore highlighting the urgent need for collective action,” he said.

Calling for prompt action, he said addressing the situation would require a multi-sectoral approach.

“I plead with potential partners to collaborate with Ntlo ya Dikgosi to develop meaningful and lasting solutions to this emerging issue,” he said.

The chairperson said the narrative that GBV was a result of culture and the patriarchal nature of society needed to be looked into as it carried the potential to paint culture as bad.

Kgosi Malope II said since culture was dynamic and therefore evolved with time, it was necessary to constantly interrogate and examine it against social and economic trends in efforts to find its links, if any, to GBV. In the end, he said Ntlo ya Dikgosi was committed to participate in all endeavours aimed toward combating the societal ill.

Regarding climate change, Kgosi Malope II urged dikgosi as thought leaders and an integral part of the legislature to be part of the discourse on the topical issue that continued to affect the globe, Botswana and local communities included. He said with their wealth of traditional indigenous knowledge and ideas that needed to be shared in the formulation of policies and legislation, dikgosi’s role in combating climate change could not be over-emphasised.

On a different subject, Kgosi Malope II said Ntlo ya Dikgosi should reflect on its level of engagement in the public, particularly given how much it valued the input of the public. He said engaging in robust dialogue with the public would help re-shape Ntlo ya Dikgosi and enhance its efforts to remain relevant in the face of changing times.

Setting the tone for a direction that the house should adopt going forward, the chairperson said Ntlo ya Dikgosi should re-engineer and reset its priorities in alignment with those of the new government.

“There is need to introspect and re-position Ntlo ya Dikgosi to be relevant and to deliver on its mandate in alignment with the national priorities set by the new government,” he said.

The meeting of Ntlo ya Dikgosi continues in Palapye where Vice President Mr Ndaba Gaolathe is scheduled to open dikgosi’s capacity building training today. ENDS