Mosadi Seboko (born 7 June 1950) is the

Kgosi A (; ) is the title for a hereditary leader of a Batswana tribe. Usage The word "kgosi" is a Setswana term for "king" or "chief". Various affixes can be added to the word to change its meaning: adding the prefix ''di-'' creates the plural form ...

kgolo of the

Balete people The Balete people are a Southern African ethnic group. In Botswana they have occupied a permanent territory since around 1780, officially recognized as a tribal reserve in 1909. They are the only one of eight major tribes that do not belong to the ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

. She is the first female kgosikgolo in the history of Botswana.

Early life

Mosadi Seboko was born on 7 June 1950 in Ramotswa, south of

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. Her name ''Mosadi'' literally means "woman" in

Setswana Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zon ...

, and she was given the English name "Muriel". Her father, Mokgosi II, expected a boy to be his oldest child, but upon seeing his daughter, he said, "Well, it's a woman. What can I do? It's my child." In 1969, she graduated from Moeding College. Two years later, she became the department administrator at

Barclay's Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

. She ended her six-year marriage with her abusive husband in 1978.

Chieftainship

Mosadi Seboko's brother was kgosikgolo from 1 June 1996 to 17 June 2001 when he died from an illness. Tumelo Seboko, an uncle of Mosadi, became acting kgosikgolo from 21 June 2001 to 7 January 2002. Mosadi's mother and sisters pushed her to become the next kgosikgolo during this time, which would break a history of solely male dikgosikgolo. At the time of the installation, she worked as a floor manager at Century Office Supplies in Broadhurst. Mosadi based her claim for ''bogosi'' on the "birthright equity"; since she was the first born, she should have precedence in becoming kgosikgolo. Seboko had many critics because she was a woman. Her uncle Tumelo wanted Tsimane Mokgosi, a cousin of Mosadi, to become kgosikgolo instead, and other members of the kgotla tried to delay her installation by saying that she did not have the skills to lead the traditional leopard hunt or to engage in the "rainmaking" ritual, both of which were necessary to prove a kgosikgolo's legitimacy. Mosadi rebutted the arguments, saying that many of those traditions fell into disuse when

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came to Botswana. Her ascension was revolutionary in that it overthrew a tradition where women were only allowed in the ''

kgotla A ''kgotla'' (English pronunciation or ) is a public meeting, community council, or traditional law court of a Botswana village. It is usually headed by the village chief or headman, and community decisions are always arrived at by consensus. H ...

'' (village meeting) if they were invited by a male. She assumed office on 7 January 2002 and became

chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Ntlo ya Dikgosi The ''Ntlo ya Dikgosi'' ( Tswana for "House of Chiefs") in Botswana is an advisory body to the country's parliament.HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

problem. Critics have accused her of "defending women", but Mosadi Seboko responded that she is instead "angry at women ..for failing to exert more control over their own circumstances".

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References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seboko, Mosadi Botswana chiefs Women rulers in Africa 1950 births Living people Botswana royalty 2002 in Botswana Women government officials People from Ramotswa, Botswana 21st-century Botswana women politicians 21st-century Botswana politicians