03 Mar 2025

The new Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust Board has failed to honour an invitation to a special annual general meeting called by trust members recently.

The meeting aimed to pass a motion of no confidence on the board as members argued that they did not elect them and as such, they did not recognise them.

On the day of the meeting, there were some reports that the new board’s legal advisor had served the office of the District Commissioner to cancel the meeting as it was deemed illegal but the meeting was put on hold as the office had to seek legal advice as well.

Some members argued that the meeting was not called by the said office and insisted that it should continue as planned. However, the meeting which was scheduled to start at 10 am was postponed to the afternoon and eventually had to be called off because the new board did not show up.

Earlier on, technical advisory committee (TAC) member, Mr Pelotshweu Ntesang, explained to the gathering the determining factors on whether to carry on with the meeting or not, emphasising that it was important to abide by the trust’s constitution.

As per the constitution, he said the community should form a quorum of 50 people or above and at least have seven members of board of trustees for the meeting to continue. Since the board did not attend, he said, the meeting had to be called off and re-called after 14 days of which the community could now take decisions with or without the board of trustees’ presence.

Following the explanation, the community called off the meeting and agreed to call it again after the stipulated time. The community from the affiliated settlements of Boro, Xaxaba, Daunara, Xharaxao, and Quxao vowed to fight for their rights and protect the trust’s assets, saying they could not entrust them to people they did not vote into office.

They agreed that to achieve that, they had to oust the board through a motion of no confidence. Kgosi Motswagole Mokgwathi of Boro advised the community to handle the issue with care, respect and team spirit to protect the dignity of the trust. He said by so doing, the issue could be resolved amicably. ENDS