Kgotla

Kgotla

            Botswana is a modern western style republic with a parliament and a president.  It is remarkable for Africa that Botswana has maintained since independence a well functioning government with good leaders and little corruption.  The result (with the help of diamond mining) is a society with a standard of living second highest in all of Africa.

            But Botswana decided to retain in place in its governance a feature of its earlier society.  Traditionally, each village had a chief, or kgosi (-osi with a throat clearing sound before it).  He was an older, supposedly wiser, man.  He ruled with the aid of other older men.  While the arrangement was not democratic, it was considered largely fair, particularly because Batswana (the people of Botswana) revere older people.

            In the Botswana constitution, the tradition of a village kgosi was retained.  The position is inherited.  The kgosi and the other older men form what is called a kgotla (-otla plus that throat clearing), a group of leaders and the place where they meet.  The kgotla performs some land use functions (where and what sort of new homes may be built), some civil court functions (claims for damages) and some family court functions (civil marriages, family disputes).  It also serves as a community center that leads the observance of holidays and ceremonial occasions.  It is more personal than the parallel elected village council and local government bureaucracy.  The largest cities do not have kgotla structures, although our current village of Kanye (with maybe 50,000 people) has a kgotla in each ward with one paramount kgotla village wide.

            Peace Corps wants us to work with the kgotla structure as well as the local civil authorities.  They recognize that the kgotla may represent the social backbone of a community.  Its apolitical nature may give it more moral authority.  I don’t know whether modern communications and the increasing reach of civil government will lead to a diminished structure of the kgotla, but that is something I will want to explore.

            Early on, we trainees all visited a kgotla meeting in the wards where we lived.  Last Sunday, we attended Botswana Independence Day festivities in our kgotla.  It included some speeches, singing and a dinner prepared for the 200 or so in attendance.  Our host family mother is very much involved in civic activities and is the treasurer of the kgotla (I think). 

            The kgotla building itself is made of open frame construction, with a thatched roof and with one side open to a large courtyard before it.  The concrete floor of the kgotla building contains a raised circle, being the symbolic village fire.  Placed before it were decorative baskets of maize and of sorghum with fancy animal pelts on the floor.

The women prepared the food a day in advance.  The kgosi donated a beef cattle, which was slaughtered the day before.  The carcass was boiled for hours, then the meat pounded off the bone using a mortar and pestle.  With some flavorings added, it tasted like pot roast.  We also had phaleche (maize meal that looks like mashed potatoes), cabbage and squash.

            Because we are guests, we were served first, along with the kgotla members.  Then the other adults, then the children were served last.  Everyone brought their own plates and utensils from home, and all were served cafeteria style. 

            The Peace Corps volunteers who were present were all introduced in the formal part of the festivities.  As an older, married man, I was asked to sit up at the front on a dais facing the people, along with the members of the kgotla.  I was forewarned of this, and so I wore coat and tie, similar to the business dress of my fellow monna mogolo (old men).  Apprently our appearance was appreciated.  My host family brother who accompanied us (and who sells cars in the capital) proclaimed me to be the boss of the kgotla.