Former Judge Mosojane calls for reparations from Britain and Tati Company
Outspoken retired Judge, John Zwibili Mosojane has urged government to repossess the 45000ha of land owned by Tati Company, instead of buying it back at P1.4 billion as was recently revealed by President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
In an explosive interview with The Voice this week, the veteran legal hawk insists it makes no sense for government to pay a fortune on buying back land that rightfully belongs to her people.
Mosojane said one has to look back into history to see how Tati District was stolen from its inhabitants following the death of King Lobengula at the hands of the British.
“Tati Company came into being in 1895 following Lobengula’s death in January 1894, and was owned by British Baronet Sir John Swinburne, not Cecil John Rhodes as widely believed,” said Mosojane, adding that at the time Lobengula ruled over the district occupied by the Kalanga people as part of his Matebeleland conquest.
He said being King and ruler, Lobengula held sovereign rights to grant exploration and mining concessions for a fee to foreigners who applied.
He told The Voice that the last concession Lobengula granted was in 1888 to a company named Tati Concessions Mining and Exploration Company Limited owned by Samuel Edwards and James Fairbain.
“It is this company, which without authority, transferred the concession granted to it to the Tati Concessions Limited in 1895,” revealed Mosojane.
The former judge said Swirnburne and the British were aware that Lobengula had no immediate successor, which was then easy for the Baronet to claim ownership of the land unlawfully.
Mosojane recalls that this claim of ownership was followed by a long debate from 1985 to 1911, culminating in a proclamation which illegally transferred the entire land to Tati Concessions.
“This proclamation was preceded by a Commission of Inquiry in which the inhabitants of the land being people from Mosojane, Habangana and Masunga were not consulted.
“Proclamation No. 2 of 1911 was washy-washy as to why the land was ultimately given away. The land was transferred for the sake of expediency. In my mind this was theft, clear and simple,” Mosojane said.
He said, perhaps in an attempt to clean their image three years after acquiring the land rights, Tati Concessions Limited went into voluntary liquidation for reconstruction purposes, re-emerging as Tati Company Limited.
“This was a change of name only and the theft sticks,” fired Mosojane.
“In any case stolen property remains stolen wherever, or in whose hands it is found. It’s no defence to say I didn’t know it was stolen,” opines Mosojane.
The retired judge said the owner is entitled to their property wherever they find it.
“This leads me to this question. Why would the government of Botswana buy land stolen from a section of its people, instead of simply repossessing it?”
Mosojane is of the view that the Botswana government should join hands with the people of North East to claim reparations from the British Government and Tati Company Limited.
“The theft caused us so much harassment, disruptions and other harms; and contributed nothing with so much money they got from the sale of their land.
“Much of what I just said is stated in more detail in my recently published book, The truth hurts: Botswana Democracy, British Justice,” concluded the no nonsense retired judge.
