Zimbabwe's Bakalanga demand repatriation to Botswana

Zimbabwe's BaKalanga demand repatriation to Botswana

• Zim pays Botswana fuel debt

• Zimbabwe to pay Botswana fuel debt

• Botswana debt write-off raises stink

• Zim man found hanged in Botswana

• Botswana claims we prefer the whip

• Zim prostitutes make roaring business in Botswana

By Donny Dithato

THE indifference of the Zimbabwean authorities is threatening to thwart the dream of BaKalanga-ba-Nswazwi of returning to Botswana to join their kith and kin.

One of the members of the organising committee tasked with the repatriation Obed Chilume told Mmegi this week that they have faced an uphill battle in trying to facilitate the return of Nswazwi’s people because of lack of cooperation from the Zimbabwean government, particularly the District Commissioner at Plumtree.

Chilume, a former MP said fellow Bakalanga in Zimbabwe were “very anxious to come back because they are treated as second class citizens in Zimbabwe and are treated as resident aliens and denied Zimbabwean citizenship”.

These Bakalanga are said to be living in the villages of Jecheni, Dombodema, Majambuzi, Plumtree and the Bolilimanngwe district. They had sought to return with the body of their late Chief John Nswazwi but were unable to do so because of the need to comply with immigration formalities.

Another coordinator of the repatriation programme and Nkange MP Ambrose Masalila, has told Mmegi that he has had a meeting with the Minister of Home Affairs Thebe Mogami over the issue on several occasions. But the response was the same that those intending to return to Botswana should submit their names to the Zimbabwean District Commissioner in Plumtree. The DC is supposed to forward the names to Harare. But so far this has not happened. He says he has also spoken to one of the committee members responsible for the repatriation on the Zimbabwean side who visited Botswana recently.

Masalila said the committee responded by advising that the Nswazwi people from Zimbabwe should follow protocol by “initiating and making follow-ups with the District Commissioner in Plumtree with a list of those willing to leave for Botswana”.

He said the whole process is tricky because the affected parties are throwing the buck at each other. Following the impasse, he said that he advised the committee members from Zimbabwe that the issue is better handled formally through government to government channels in order to verify that that those who intend to come back are deserving cases and not chancers.

He revealed that the number of people expected to repatriate is estimated at about 350, up from the initial 202. He said that although there are many Bakalanga living in Zimbabwe, it is only those from Jecheni and those who have lived in Botswana before who are expected to return. He said these are the same people who were accorded a special dispensation by the Botswana government at independence to return when the boarder was opened for six months to facilitate the process. He said these people are part of the group that took up the offer and settled in Marapong in the North East District. They are part of the group that fled the country around 1948-49 when Nswazwi was exiled by the colonial administration from Mafikeng after a clash with the late Bangwato Regent Tshekedi Khama. . The expulsion came after Nswazwi refused to pay tax and tribute to Khama. The return of the Nswazwi group in Zimbabwe is rationalised on the basis of correcting the wrongs of history.

Officials of both the Botswana Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Zimbabwean High Commission in Gaborone were unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.
From Mmegi
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com