Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe has called on government to recognise other tribes to strengthen the unity, peace and harmony that prevails in the country.

Commenting on the Bogosi Bill in Parliament on Tuesday, he said there are other tribes that live in 'the land of major tribes' that deserve recognition even though they don't have their own land.

He cited the headmen of the villages of Mogapinyana, Diloro, Kgagodi and Tamasane who report to Maokatumo village as having been disadvantaged for a long time.Kedikilwe, also MP for Mmadinare, said last December and January this year, he and Kgosi Seeletso of Mmadinare toured his constituency and the people were clear that the retirement age for chiefs should be 80, also taking account of fitness. He said that the people also want the chiefs' children to have attained a certain level of education for them to understand the ever changing world. He also said that the appointment of the Deputy Chief should be done in stages if there are no conflicts. In cases where there are conflicts or dispute over the deputy, the tribe should be consulted and if the matter is still unresolved, then the minister may intervene.

Kedikilwe said that he is against the idea of giving the President the power to appoint five specially nominated members to Ntlo ya Dikgosi, suggesting that the number should be reduced to two.

But MP for Lobatse, Nehemiah Modubule said that he would not support the Bill saying there were tribes that lived around the country that were denied equal opportunity because it was upon the minister to recognise them. He said the bill wants them to negotiate with major tribes to acquire land. "That is not fair at all," he said. But local government Minister, Margaret Nasha interjected accusing Modubule of derailing the debate, which she contended was not about land. But Modubule responded that the minister was saying something different from what she had written on paper. He said many tribes are denied the right to land. He also argued that the proposed law gives more powers to the Minister in that she can appoint a deputy chief even if they have differences with the chief over the minister's choice of candidate. "It is the tribe that must decide," he said. Earlier on, MP for Tonota South, Pono Moatlhodi cautioned that the new Bogosi law should not interfere with those tribes that have Paramount Chiefs. He said that the tribes whose chiefs are appointed by birth have never had problems with chieftainship and should not be painted with the same brush as those whose chiefs were appointed to the Ntlo ya Dikgosi by the vote.

He said that paramount chiefs must stay, proposing further that those who retired before the introduction of salaries for chiefs should be paid pension. Moatlhodi explained to the House how Bogosi operates and that there are tribes that are subject to others.