The Tshekedi Case
SIR,—May I reply to a letter in your issue of July 13th from Mr. A.
Sillery ? Mr. Sillery does not mention that he was the Resident Commissioner for the Bechuanaland Protectorate 'until the end of last year, and was, therefore, the key person in all the advice that resulted in the banishment of Seretse and myself.
Seretse's position as heir apparent to the chieftainship of the tribe has never been questioned- and, as I have said officially and publicly, if the cause of the double banishment was truly rivalry between us, the obvious duty of the Government was to have removed me and not Seretse I submit, therefore, that the present tension has resulted from the case being incorrectly handled from the beginning, and from the misrepresentation that I was a rival claimant to the chieftainship.
The most paradoxical thing in this complicated question is that the Government accepted the contention that the marriage of Seretse was not in accordance with custom, which is the sole reason for which I, and those who hold my view, have incurred displeasure of those holding the opposite view. Further, the Government itself, and even Mr. Sillery, admit that the people with me are the responsible leaders of the tribe; but these few individuals are being sacrificed to the rule of a mob of whose activities even Seretse, whom they profess to support, has publicly disapproved, and whose real leader is, apparently, unknown.
Mr. Sillery believes that my return might well lead to bloodshed. How then does he account for the fact that I spent five and a half months in the country during the year of my banishment ? Had the recent riots been spontaneous it would have been quite impossible for two hundred policemen to contain them. In banishing both Khamas the Government declared they would give the clans allied to the Bamanwato clan proper more administrative power, but in practice they placed in a position of power members of a faction of the Bamanwato clan whe claim to support Seretse but who are traditional opponents of the Khamas in an old feud. These are the people who are resporisible for promoting the present riots, and who are repeatedly referred to as representatives and leaders of the tribe, and are quoted as saying that I am not wanted. Even the recent decision made at Palapye that no kgotla would be held was made at a camp-fire at night time, and not before the three, Govern- ment observers. In the meeting with the observers beforehand, only three-people—all members of the Bamanwato clan proper and not of the allied clans—spoke. A careful observer will notice that the refusal to allow my return is now not based on unpopularity, as the Governnient
alleged, but I have become an object of ransom for Seretse's return. Although I renounced all claim to the chieftainship at the time I left the country, the Government has never troubled to make this clear to the people, and, as one reporter remarked, Sir Evelyn Baring's statement to the tribe on July 28th was the first time he had heard my renunciation being made public to the tribe. Mr. Sillery's contention that neither Seretse nor myself could possibly reside amongst our own tribe as individuals is unintelligible to me, because the Bechuanaland Protectorate Government has proclaimed power to depose chiefs—unless he contends that all chiefs who desire to retire from chieftainship must automatically be banished.
I welcomed the proposed kgotla because it gave me the only chance have been offered since my banishment of stating my case to my own people, and of dispelling all these misconceptions. I still await this opportunity. Only a proper Commission of Enquiry with definite powers and terms of reference will reveal the truth- behind'all this confusion.—
Yours faithfully, ' TSHEREDI KHANIA. Westway Hotel, Endsleigh Street, W.C.1.
Previous page
