What Is a Kgotla? Botswana's Public Assembly Explained

A kgotla is the traditional public assembly of a Tswana community in Botswana: the place where a kgosi (chief) or headman consults residents, hears disputes and announces decisions, and where, in principle, any adult member of the community may stand up and speak. The word names both the physical space, usually an open area near the chief's homestead, often marked out by a semicircle of wooden poles and shaded by a large tree, and the gathering held there. So the short answer to what is a kgotla is this: a village parliament, a customary court and a community noticeboard rolled into one.

It is not a relic. Kgotla meetings are still held across Botswana, ministers and members of Parliament use them to consult the people they serve, and customary courts connected to the kgotla settle a great many everyday disputes. For anyone curious about how Botswana governs itself, the kgotla is one of the best places to start.

What is a kgotla, and how does a meeting work?

A kgotla meeting is called by the kgosi or by a headman responsible for a ward. People gather, traditionally seated in the open, and the matter is set out: a new government scheme, a dispute over cattle, a problem with water, a decision about a local event. Then people speak, one after another, and the leader listens.

The ideal is that discussion continues until the leader can sum up the feeling of the meeting and announce a decision that reflects it. Two Setswana sayings are often quoted to explain the spirit of the institution. Kgosi ke kgosi ka batho, roughly "a chief is a chief through the people", expresses the idea that authority depends on the community's consent. Mmualebe o bua la gagwe, roughly "even the one who speaks badly has the right to say his piece", expresses the expectation that unpopular or awkward views will still be heard.

The word kgotla also describes a unit of community life. A large village is traditionally divided into wards, each with its own kgotla and headman, while the main kgotla of the capital village sits at the top. Matters can move up from a ward kgotla to the main one, much as a case moves through a court system.

Dikgosi: who leads the kgotla

A kgosi (plural dikgosi) is the hereditary leader of a morafe, the Setswana word for a community or nation such as the Bangwato, Bakwena or Bangwaketse. The kgosi presides at the main kgotla, supported by advisers, relatives and headmen. Historically the kgosi was responsible for allocating land, organising the community's labour, leading in war and, importantly in a dry country, presiding over rituals connected with rain.

The kgotla is also a court. Customary courts in Botswana, presided over by dikgosi or appointed court officers, hear many minor criminal cases and civil disputes under customary law, and are recognised in the national legal system with routes of appeal. They are valued because they are local, quick and conducted in Setswana. They are also debated: customary courts can still order corporal punishment for some offences, which human rights advocates have criticised, and questions are regularly raised about legal representation and consistency.

The kgotla in a parliamentary democracy

When Bechuanaland became independent as Botswana in 1966, it became a parliamentary republic with an elected National Assembly and an executive president. The new state deliberately reduced some of the powers of dikgosi. Most importantly, control over the allocation of tribal land passed from chiefs to land boards established soon after independence. Botswana's first president, Seretse Khama, was himself heir to the Bangwato chieftaincy, which made the transfer of power from hereditary to elected authority unusually personal.

Rather than abolishing chieftaincy, the constitution gave dikgosi a national advisory role. The body once called the House of Chiefs is now known as Ntlo ya Dikgosi. It does not make laws, but Parliament is expected to consult it on bills that affect customary law, chieftainship and the organisation of communities, and it can discuss matters it considers important to the people it represents.

Scholars disagree about how much the kgotla explains Botswana's long record of stable, multi-party elections. Some argue that a culture of public consultation and accountable leadership helped democracy take root. Others caution that the kgotla was also hierarchical, that consensus can shade into deference to the powerful, and that the institution can be used to inform people of decisions already taken rather than to ask them. Both points can be true at once, and many people in Botswana make them themselves.

Who speaks? Limits and debates

The ideal that everyone may speak was historically narrower in practice. For long periods the kgotla was a space dominated by adult men; women were often expected to be represented by male relatives, and young people deferred to elders. Communities that were treated as subordinate within Tswana polities, including many San people and other minority groups, frequently had little voice in the kgotla that governed them.

Much has changed. Women now attend and speak at kgotla meetings, women serve as headmen and court officers, and in the early 2000s Mosadi Seboko of the Balete became the first woman installed as the paramount chief of a major Tswana community. Minority representation has also been contested in law and politics. The original constitution gave permanent seats in the House of Chiefs to the leaders of eight Tswana-speaking groups, which communities such as the Wayeyi and Kalanga argued placed them in a lesser position. Reforms broadened the membership, although critics say the question of whose institutions count as national has not been fully settled.

Visiting a kgotla: respect and etiquette

A kgotla is a working public space, not a tourist attraction. Visitors should attend only with permission and, ideally, with someone who can explain local custom. Greet people properly (Dumela rra to a man, Dumela mma to a woman, Dumelang to a group), dress modestly, sit where you are shown, do not speak unless invited, and ask before taking any photograph or recording. Some matters, especially disputes between families, are private in all but name, even when heard in public.

On the road through Botswana

The walk's planned route crosses Botswana from the South African border north through Gaborone and the eastern corridor towards Kasane and the Zambezi. One of the expedition's central questions here is how authority, consultation and belonging are negotiated in a country where dikgosi and an elected Parliament share public life. Leon hopes to attend a kgotla gathering as an observer if he is invited, asking first what may be recorded and who has the right to speak, rather than expecting anything to be staged for a camera.

The story of how three dikgosi once defended their lands in Britain is told in our article on the three dikgosi, and the meaning of rain in Setswana public life in our piece on the word pula. You can read who Leon is, follow the kindness ledger that records an act of kindness in every place he passes, and back the walk before he sets out from Cape Agulhas in December 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is the kgotla a court?

Partly. The kgotla is a public assembly for consultation and announcements, and it is also the setting for customary courts that hear many minor disputes and offences under customary law, within Botswana's wider legal system.

Can women speak at a kgotla?

Yes. Historically the kgotla was dominated by men, but today women attend, speak, serve as headmen and court officers, and some hold chieftaincy.

What is Ntlo ya Dikgosi?

Ntlo ya Dikgosi, formerly the House of Chiefs, is a national advisory body of dikgosi and other traditional leaders. It does not pass laws but advises Parliament on matters affecting custom and chieftainship.

Can visitors attend a kgotla meeting?

Sometimes, but only with permission. Go with someone local who can introduce you, follow the guidance you are given, and always ask before recording anything.