The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Constitution of Botswana , also known as the Balopi Commission after the chairman of the commission Patrick Balopi , is a Botswana commission of inquiry set up on 28 July 2000 in response to perceived tribal inequality between the dominant Batswana and the smaller minority tribes such as the Wayeyi .
19-558: We all deserve to be recognised as different tribal groupings who together make a whole called Botswana. We cannot achieve unity by denying other groups their identity, the age of serfdom and domination has long passed. Shikati Calvin Kamanakao , former paramount chief of the Wayeyi Sir Seretse Khama was passionately anti-discrimination and could not have conceivably allowed any discriminatory provisions in
38-495: Is different from the motshwarelela bogosi , an office created when the kgosi is permanently unable to perform his or her duties and a replacement kgosi is needed. The act has been criticised by tribal leaders because of the limitations on the powers of a kgosi. In 2010, Kgosi Kgafela II of the Kgatla tribe was accused of flogging, but he argued that dikgosi have immunity to the state's jurisdiction. The Botswana High Court dismissed
57-416: Is the title for a hereditary leader of a Batswana and South Africa peoples tribe. The word "kgosi" is a Setswana term for "king" or "chief". Various affixes can be added to the word to change its meaning: adding the prefix di- creates the plural form dikgosi ; the feminine suffix -gadi makes the word kgosigadi ; and the adjectival suffix -kgolo , meaning "large", creates kgosikgolo ,
76-555: The Constitution of Botswana . The Deputy Attorney General Ian Kirby responded by letter to the Wayeyi on 15 July 1999, writing that since the Wayeyi are not a recognized tribe, they could not have their own chief. Because of the Wayeyi conflict and a parliamentary motion by Olifant Mfa on 17 February 1995 to rewrite sections 77-79 of the Constitution to be "tribally neutral", President Festus Mogae appointed twenty-one people to
95-683: The Victorian era , paramount chief was a formal title created by British colonial administrators in the British Empire and applied in Britain's colonies in Asia and Africa. They used it as a substitute for the word " king " to ensure that only the British monarch held that title. Since the title "chief" was already used in terms of district and town administrators, the addition of " paramount "
114-608: The Constitution should be reviewed so that it equally recognizes all cultures found in Botswana". Paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a King/Queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system . This term is used occasionally in anthropological and archaeological theory to refer to
133-551: The Constitution. He was, in fact, not particularly in favour of chieftainship because he considered it divisive. To him, talking of republicans as junior or senior tribes would have been an anathema. Quett Masire , second president of Botswana In 1995, Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo , a professor at the University of Botswana , founded the Kamanakao Association , an organization that aims "to develop and maintain
152-592: The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Section 77, 78 and 79 of the Constitution of Botswana, otherwise known as the Balopi Commission after the chairman of the commission Patrick Balopi . The commission was charged with three tasks: "(a) To review sections 77, 78, and 79 of the constitution of Botswana and to seek a construction that would eliminate any interpretation that renders the sections discriminatory; (b) To review and propose
171-797: The Shiyeyi language and culture." The Wayeyi are a Bantu minority group under the Batawana umbrella. Due to feelings of oppression under the Batawana, the Wayeyi, with the help of the Kamanakao Association, installed their own paramount chief , Shikati Calvin Kamanakao , on 24 April 1999, which was in disagreement with the Chieftainship Act , the Tribal Land Territory Act , and sections 77-79 of
190-567: The country in May 2002 to hold debates about future changes to the constitution, but the consensus among the citizens remains dissatisfied. Minister of Health Joy Phumaphi said that the revision "is a compromise and it does not remove discrimination." Other ministers felt that they did not have enough time to provide feedback to the revision process. A 2007 study by the University of Botswana found that "a significant number of respondents suggest that
209-532: The most effective method of selecting members of the House of Chiefs ; and (c) To propose and recommend measures to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the House of Chiefs." In order to collect public opinions, the members of the commission visited 41 villages and towns, held 43 public meetings, listened to 38 oral submissions, and received 10 group and 40 individual written submissions. The meetings were held in
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#1732793843905228-819: The north of China. 'Khan' is first seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289 and was used as a state title by the Rouran confederation. It was subsequently adopted by the Göktürks before Turkic peoples and the Mongols brought it to the rest of Asia. In the middle of the sixth century it was known as "Kagan – King of the Turks" to the Persians . It now has many equivalent meanings such as commander, leader, or ruler. The most famous khan
247-601: The rulers of multiple chiefdoms or the rulers of exceptionally powerful chiefdoms that have subordinated others. Paramount chiefs were identified by English-speakers as existing in Native American confederacies and regional chiefdoms, such as the Powhatan Confederacy and Piscataway Native Americans encountered by European colonists in the Chesapeake Bay region of North America . During
266-499: The traditional dikgotla of the tribes. The commission made the following recommendations in the " White Paper No.1 of 2001": The president was praised for his efforts by the minority Batswapong in eastern Botswana but was heavily criticised by the Bamangwato because they felt it would "place their paramount chief [and then Vice President of Botswana] Ian Khama on the same level as chiefs from inferior tribes." The Bogosi Act
285-612: The tribe, to organize kgotla meetings, and to follow the rules and advice of the national government and the members of the tribe. The dikgosi of the eight main Batswana tribes automatically become members of the Ntlo ya Dikgosi , an advisory body within the Parliament of Botswana . The kgosi has the ability to appoint a mothusa kgosi who acts as an acting leader while the kgosi is temporarily unable to perform his or her duties. This
304-462: The word for "supreme leader". It is a title often given to aristocrats in Botswana and surrounding countries where there are Tswana speaking people. The office of tribal leadership is called the bogosi while the person who assumes the office is the kgosi . The Bogosi Act of 2008 defines the powers of dikgosi. According to the Bogosi Act, the kgosi of a tribe has several duties: to manage
323-407: Was made so as to distinguish between the ruling monarch and the local aristocracy . Khan , alternately spelled lowercase as khan and sometimes spelled as Han , Xan , Ke-Han , Turkic : khān , Mongolian : qāān , Chinese : 可汗 or 汗, kehan or han ) is an originally Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, first used by medieval Turko-Mongol nomadic tribes living to
342-510: Was passed in 2008, replacing the Chieftainship Act . This act removed references of the word "chief" and changed them to kgosi. A revision of the recommendations was made in April 2002 titled the "White Paper No.2 of 2002" which opted to let the selection process for the House remain the same: the eight dikgosi of the main tribes would retain their posts, a move that the House of Chiefs itself approved. President Mogae went on further visits around
361-702: Was the Great Khan of Mongols: Genghis Khan . Another famous Manchu khan was Nurhachi . Huguan Siou is the paramount leader for the Kadazandusun Murut indigenous community in Sabah . The current and the second Huguan Siou is Joseph Pairin Kitingan . The office is near sacred and can be left vacant if no one is deemed worthy to hold the title. Kgosi A kgosi ( / ˈ k oʊ s i / ; Tswana pronunciation: [ˈkχʊ.si] )
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