Gasebalwe Seretse
22 October 2009
From his majestic house perched on a hilltop, the chief of Bakaa of Kalamare, Goareng Mosinyi watches the somewhat mundane activities of his subjects as they go about doing their daily duties. On this particular day, there were a lot of turned stones around as the Mokaa is busy doing gardening in the rocky homestead.
"I bought this house from my late uncle's child who has relocated to Mahalapye so I am busy renovating it and I am also doing a bit of gardening," he says.
The house is big by village standards and there is no doubt that it is fit for a king. This is where the Mokaa is able to unwind after a busy day at the Kgotla his preferred company being the squirrels and the birds that come foraging for food. It is at his home where he is able to devise ways of being a good Kgosi to his morafe.
Kgosi Mosinyi is one of the youngest regional representatives in Ntlo Ya Dikgosi.
As the most senior leader of the Bakaa in Gammangwato, the 33-year-old started discharging his duties as Kgosi in 2004 after inheriting the crown from his grandfather and namesake Goareng Mosinyi. The younger Mosinyi says the Bakaa are originally from Thabanchu in Lesotho. They came to Botswana during the times of Difaqane or thereabouts. In Botswana, they are mostly found in Bokaa, Kalamare, Shoshong, Serowe and Molepolole.
The Bakaa in Bokaa are said to be the most senior followed by those in Kalamare. The young Kgosi was born in 1976 to Mpho and Mosinyi Mosinyi. Mosinyi Mosinyi was supposed to inherit the throne from his father Goareng Mosinyi but he died in 1989.
This left the young Goareng Mosinyi to automatically inherit the throne. Interestingly, the older Goareng Mosinyi chose a political career as opposed to bogosi having formed the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) with the likes of Sir Seretse Khama and becoming the first MP for Shoshong in 1966 until 1989 when he lost to yet another Mosinyi, Esther.
Young Goareng Mosinyi has attended Thornhill, Kalamare, Segoditshane and St. James primary schools before joining Parwe Junior Secondary School. he moved to Madiba Senior Secondary School and then the University of Botswana (UB) where he pursued a diploma in Computer Science. He quit before completing the course because he did not like it since he preferred geology.
He then worked as a geo-technician with a number of companies including Hydromin, Hydrogeo, Rio Tinto Exploration and Geo Prospecting Services.
Although he was handsomely paid, the bogosi beckoned and there was no way he could resist the calling to serve his people. He says that he was happy that Bakaa welcomed him with open arms and that nobody resisted his appointment as the Kgosi of Kalamare, unlike other areas where there are always squabbles over the bogosi.
For a young person, he appreciates the traditional institution and he is unhappy that government is not doing enough to promote it.
"Before the coming of democracy, dikgosi governed this country and everything was under their control. When the new government took over, it decided to take over everything but the truth of the matter is that some things are better off administered by the dikgosi," he says.
The youthful Kgosi says that when he became the new leader of his people, he had to go through a lot of transformation because as the father of the morafe, he has to live up to certain expectations.
This meant that he had to grow up quickly and had to stop some of the activities he used to do with youthful abandon.
Although Mosinyi was embraced by his people, about two months after his inauguration, he was involved in an accident that sadly cost him his right hand.
This put paid to his career as a softball player. Fortunately, the keen sportsman is able to play Sunday football and do a bit of gardening with the help of his subjects.
He is married to Kagiso Mosinyi and they have two girls - Michelle and Mpho. He hopes to produce a male heir to the Bakaa throne soon.
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