The Bakwena or Bakoena ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large Sotho-Tswana clan in Southern Africa of the southern Bantu group. They can be found in different parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini. "Kwena" is a Sotho/Tswana/Sepedi word meaning "crocodile", the crocodile is also their totem (seboko). [1]
Earliest ancestor of the Kwena clan, Kwena, was a grandson of Masilo I, the King of Bahurutse clan around 1360 CE. Kwena and his followers settled at Tebang, now called Heidelberg. [2] Around 1500 CE, Bakwena started spreading in the region, from the Lekwa River to Kalahari (Botswana) until settling at Ntsoanatsatsi (mythical origin land of the Sotho-Tswana people) with the Bafokeng around 1580 CE.
and it continues to the royal line of Lesotho.
Kgabo II led a small group of Bakwena and crossed the Madikwe River and founded a tribe on the lands of the Bakgatla tribe (whose totem was the blue monkey) which they drove away, modern day Botswana. As the result of a split, several tribes like the Ngwato and Ngwaketse. [5]
Molepolole is a large village in Kweneng District, Botswana.
Sechele I a Motswasele "Rra Mokonopi" (1812–1892), also known as Setshele, was the ruler of the Kwêna people of Botswana. He was converted to Christianity by David Livingstone and in his role as ruler served as a missionary among his own and other African peoples. According to Livingstone biographer Stephen Tomkins, Sechele was Livingstone's only African convert to Christianity, even though Livingstone himself came to regard Sechele as a "backslider". Sechele led a coalition of Batswana in the Battle of Dimawe in 1852.
Englishman M. K. Kgabo (1925–1992) was a Motswana politician. He served as a member of the National Assembly of Botswana from its founding in 1966 until his retirement in 1989.
Sechele II Kealeboga Sebele was kgosi of the Kwena tribe in the Bechuanaland Protectorate from 1911 until his death in 1918. His rule was marked by a split within the tribe as opposing dikgosana led by his uncles rejected his authority. Sechele II was succeeded by his son Sebele II.
Motswasele II was the kgosi of the Kwena tribe from c. 1805 until his death c. 1821.
Legwale was a kgosi of the Kwena tribe in the late 18th century. He was preceded by his father Seitlhamo and succeeded by his brother Maleke as regent. Gary Okihiro has contested the idea that Legwale is a single individual, saying that there were two consecutive dikgosi named Legwale who were father and son.
Kelebantse Sebele II was kgosi of the Kwena tribe in the Bechuanaland Protectorate. He succeeded his father, Sechele II, in 1918. Sebele quickly came into conflict with other members of his family and with the British colonial administration, which deemed him uncooperative and unstable.
Seitlhamo was a kgosi of the Kwena tribe. He ruled from the death of his father Motswasele I c. 1785 until his own death c. 1795. He was succeeded by his son Legwale.
Maleke was a regent of the Kwena tribe. He was the son of kgosi Seitlhamo and the younger brother of kgosi Legwale. Maleke became regent of the Bakwena after Legwale died c. 1798. As kgosi, Maleke led an attack against a Bangwaketse village in Kanye to avenge the death of his father. He burned the village, and he is said to have killed Tawana, the uncle of the village's leader, Makaba. A short time later, Maleke died of rabies after he was bitten by a dog. He was succeeded as regent by his younger brother Tshosa until Legwale's son Motswasele II became kgosi c. 1805.
Tshosa was a regent of the Kwena tribe from 1803 to 1807. He became regent following the death of his brother Maleke, who was also a regent, and he held the position until he passed it to the Kwena heir, his nephew Motswasele II. After Motswasele's death, Tshosa led a group of the fractured Kwena tribe. He was killed in an attack by the Bakololo.
Kgari Kealeboga Sechele II was a kgosi of the Kwena tribe in the Bechuanaland Protectorate from 1931 until his death in 1962. He was appointed to the position by the British colonial administration after it deposed his elder brother Sebele II.
Motswasele I was kgosi of the Kwena tribe from c. 1770 until his death c. 1790. He was preceded by his grandfather Motshodi and succeeded by his son Seitlhamo.
Motshodi or Mochudi was kgosi of the Kwena tribe. He was preceded by his father Kgabo II and succeeded by his grandson Motswasele I.
Kgabo II was kgosi of the Kwena tribe. He was born a junior son of the Bakwena kgosi Tebele. Tebele was succeeded by Kgabo's older brother Mogopa, and Kgabo was given control of a ward within the tribe. Following a drought, Mogopa wished to move the tribe to find rain, but Kgabo and his village did not accompany them. The Bakwena split into two separate groups: the Bakwena-Kgabo staying in Rathatheng, and the Bakwena-Mogopa that settled in Mabjanamatshwana.
Neale Molaodi Sechele (1915–1985) was kgosi of the Bakwena. He was appointed to the position by the court in 1963 following the death of his brother Kgari Sechele II, and he was forced to abdicate in 1970. As Neale was appointed against the wishes of the people and he often neglected his responsibilities, he was regarded poorly by the Bakwena.
Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1926–1978) was the African Tribal Authority of the Kwena tribe from 1970 until his death in 1978. He was appointed by the government in lieu of a kgosi after the abdication of Neale Sechele.
MacIntyre "Mack" Sechele was the regent of the Kwena tribe from 1978 to 1986. He was born to kgosi Sechele II of the Bakwena and his first wife Lena Rauwe. When a succession dispute occurred between Bonewamang Padi Sechele and Moruakgomo Sechele in 1962, Mack supported Moruakgomo to be kgosi. Though he was the son of a kgosi, Mack did not challenge the seniority of his nephews when they were considered potential heirs.
Moithali Sechele II was regent of the Kwena tribe from 1986 to 1996. Moithali was the son of Mack Sechele, regent of the Bakwena. Upon Mack's death in 1986, Moithali was chosen over his elder brother Sentibile to succeed him. Moithali died in March 1996. He did not have any children, and he was succeeded as regent by Kgosikwena Sebele.
Edwin Kgosikwena Sebele was regent of the Kwena tribe from 1996 to 2002.
Moruakgomo Sechele was a pretender of the Kwena tribe as the son of kgosi Sebele II. His claim to be kgosi was widely supported in 1962, but it was challenged by his cousin Bonewamang. A court decision disqualified both of them despite acknowledging their claims.