Molepolole up in smoke

Pini Bothoko | Monday December 4, 2023 06:00

However, there have been myths surrounding the disappearance of people in Botswana and for what purpose. Every year the police record high numbers of people who go missing. Most of the people were found dead and suspected to have been killed. Historically, there is a belief that people are abducted, killed and their body parts removed for rituals. To date, residents of Molepolole are yet to find out who is or are really behind the abductions of people. But, enraged residents strongly believe there are killers popularly known as ‘Bo- rraboko’ in their midst. Villagers are of the view that these cases mainly spiral out of control towards general elections.

They claim some politicians use people’s body parts for rituals to strengthen themselves ahead of elections, accusations that are yet to be proven. In the midst of the recent riots that left houses, the village Kgotla shelter and cemeteries burnt to ashes, one would say Molepolole needs a permanent solution to these recurring incidents. Dubbed the country’s crime capital across social media platforms, it was only a matter of time for Molepolole residents to explode in riots as the village has been struggling to contain escalating killings that have since been described as ‘ritual murders’. In the past, the police admitted that policing the area was not easy due to the recurring incidents. Last week, Molepolole came to a standstill as villagers ran amok burning houses, tyres, blocking the road following the suspected ritual murder of Phenyo Jakoba (35), a taxi driver who was found dead and his body badly decomposed with some body parts allegedly missing. The matter left the whole nation reeling in shock and calling for a solution to these cases. Sharing their concerns across social media platforms, Batswana are calling for an urgent permanent solution to these killings and challenging the police to be not taking the cases seriously in ensuring that at least missing people were found alive. Jakoba’s death sparked a vigilante attack after he was found dead and with his body badly decomposed recently at the Mosinki lands in the outskirts of the village with some body parts allegedly missing.

Following his burial, the enraged community members, who were at the funeral, torched two houses, one belonging to a pastor, a cemetery, and the village kgotla shelter. Fed up with the recurring incidents, Molepolole residents could not bottle themselves anymore as they went to the streets without fear doing whatever they could muster to force the police and village leadership to react. However, Phandora Jacoba, Phenyo’s mother believes Batswana were just trying to reflect how hurting and distraught they were, especially that their tribal leader, Kgosi Kgari III had failed to show any support. A lot was said about this matter with the majority condemning how the village leadership responded to the matter. Some even felt the leadership’s reluctance on the matter fuelled the riots as villagers ended up taking the law into their own hands. It is however, apparent that it takes a village leadership to stabilise a village that has been on the edge like Molepolole. There were reports that the enraged rioters were planning to burn the village Kgosi’s residence but the police responded in time.

For their part, the village kgosi, Kgosi Kgari III and the police condemned the riots stating that perpetrators were not different from the alleged ritual murderers. However, 15 people have since been arrested and have appeared before the Molepolole Magistrate's Court faced with three counts of arson and two counts of malicious damage to property. When addressing a kgotla meeting recently in Lerala village, President Mokweetsi Masisi condemned the recent suspected ritual killing incidents and arson that occurred in Molepolole. Masisi stated that these incidents of suspected ritual killings and burning of properties disrupted peace and stability in the country. He said these unfortunate incidents must stop and cautioned the community against taking the law into their own hands when they heard about such incidents. The President pleaded with the public to always allow the police to investigate cases and let the law to take its course. He further advised the public to be patient as investigations followed certain procedures that could take time to be completed. Masisi rather pleaded with the public to assist the police in their investigations instead of committing crimes. Moreover, Masisi also spoke against those who used social media to organise themselves to carry out attacks, warning that action would be taken against them.

This week, the story of Molepolole riots shifted to Parliament as Members of Parliament (MPs) were recently at loggerheads with some blaming the current government and the police of not taking the cases seriously. The debate followed an urgent motion tabled by the MP for Molepolole North, Oabile Regoeng who had requested government to swiftly put in place measures to curb incidents of people reported missing and later found dead or are forever never found. Debating the motion, MPs raised concerns that the members of the public are never made aware of the report findings of missing persons’ cases especially those found dead without body parts missing. Tonota legislator, Pono Moatlhodi supported the motion stating that the cases of missing persons remain a concern countrywide accusing the police of taking time to look for the missing people to a point of them found dead. He stated that the motion came at the right time when the nation is still reeling in shock of the two recent cases in which two people went missing and were found dead in Molepolole, one with body parts missing. “These cases affect the country’s image. No one would like to invest in a country where people are killed and their body parts removed. This is cruelty at its best and the police, intelligence community and other law enforcement officers should step up and curb this scourge. The police are at fault in this matter, they should take part of blame for not cracking the whip. I am of the view that these deaths could have not happened if they could have responded to the reports in time,” he said.

For his part the MP for Molepolole South, Kabo Morwaeng shared concerns that cases of missing people do not reflect well on the country’s image stating that the people who abduct people are cruel. “People who still believe in killing people for rituals are cruel and should be cursed. These cases have been a concern for years and in most cases some missing people were found dead in dubious circumstances. I understand that two people were recently found dead in Molepolole after they went missing but that does not give residents the right to riot and hurt others in the process. Houses, cemetery and government infrastructure were recently burnt down and that should not be the case. Even if people are not pleased with something, they should not take the law into their own hands as doing so is an offence,” Morwaeng said. For their part, Ngami and Selebi-Phikwe West legislators, Carter Hikuama and Dithapelo Keorapetse slammed the government for failing its people stating that if the government was serious, some police officers could have been trained to deal with missing persons’ cases since they have been a concern for years.

Moreover, they called for a Commission of Inquiry on these cases and for reports of missing persons especially those who were found dead with missing body parts to be made public. They said to date members of the public do not know what transpired in an old case of Segametsi Mogomotsi decades later. “When people abduct others and kill them for rituals as alleged, it shows that the current system is failing to protect its people. We continue to lose people and this is happening under the watch of the current government that fails to investigate the cases seriously,” Hikuama said.

Meanwhile, Keorapetse revealed that since the 1995 riots following Mogomotsi’s disappearance, nothing was put in place and to date no one has laid their hands on Mogomotsi’s report. “It will appear as if this government is hiding something. Back in 2007 there was a call for a specialised unit to handle these cases but to date nothing has been done because this government takes people’ lives for granted. About 391 people were killed last year and this year already the police have recorded 215 murder cases and these cases continue to spiral out of control,” Keorapetse declared worriedly.