Volume 54 Issue 6- June 2016 : Feature

O

ne can safely say Tutume is a semi-urban area since most of the structures around are similar to the ones mostly seen in towns and cities. 

The only time it truly reflects a village is when livestock roams around the parking, knocking down waste bins in search of something to eat as there is little grazing available for them.

There are very few traditional houses within the modern households across all the four main wards of Magapatona, Selolwane, Madikwe and Thini.

Over the years, this village has grown so rapidly that every half an hour, public transport travels between Francistown and Tutume, transporting commuters.

It is also a service center for many of the surrounding villages and catchment areas of Nkange, Nata/Gweta and Shashe West constituencies. 

The Rural Administration Center (RAC) provides all government services and also with three wholesalers, which sell things in bulk, business people from the surrounding areas come to Tutume to purchase their supplies.

There are also chain stores supermarkets, such as Choppies and Spar, which at the time of their arrival in about less than five years ago, were seen as a threat to general dealers that have been serving the community for many years.

The recent launch of the government Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) will see some projects planned such as internal roads, land servicing at Magapatona ward where a total of 1480 plots will be serviced amongst them being 30 commercial and 18 industrial plots. 

It is also through ESP that the village is going to be installed with streets and a new hospital of 70 beds built.

Residents of Tutume are overwhelmed by these developments to the extent that at the launch of the ESP, a good number attended it with some coming from the neighbouring villages.

Giving a historic background on Tutume, Mr Itereleng Shubu of Magapatona ward said the village, which he was born at in 1940 and later started his teaching career around 1963 has developed tremendously.

Mr Shubu said  there was only one shop back in the day, which was opened by Jimmy Haskins and operated by a man from Lesotho by the name Mr Tobane Seisa, who was brought in the country as an interpreter for Kgosi Khama III by his school friend Mr Sekgoma Khama.

He said the shop was opened in 1943 at the time when Kgosi Tshekedi Khama, who was a visionary leader, moved the people of Tutume from afar on the eastern side of the then Bechuanaland as a result of constant attacks by Ndebele`s from Rhodesia and with the aim of bringing development closer to the people in one place. 

The said shop is the current Cooperative Society, which is owned by the community after it was sold to them by the Haskins. 

He explained that there were no hospital or health facilities, but there was a dispensary run by Mr Mmolotsi Mbaakanyi and catered for all the surrounding villages.

In cases where the patients needed to be seen by a doctor, the patient was referred to Jubilee Hospital in Francistown, as it was the only hospital in the north.  

In terms of schools, there was Tutume Central Primary, which Mr Shubu started his teaching career at the time at with only Sub A and B classes, but to date, there are six primary schools, two junior secondary and a senior secondary school. 

He said students used slates to write on and one of the teachers was the second Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkange, Mr Ambrose Masalila who took over from Mr Obert Chilume who was the first MP.

After independence, they started to see more developments coming with the introduction of politics and other changes.

The leadership from Serowe established the main kgotla known as “Nthula” kgotla and the first Kgosi being Kgosi Moraka Modie.

Developing slowly, some people who had capabilities opened more shops amongst them Mr Chilume who opened Itachi Complex where Choppies Supermarket is today, Mojanaga butchery was where Spar is and the shop of one Mr Jenamo Mbaakanyi was at today`s LIZ Wholesalers.

Reliving the memories, the first MP, Mr Chilume said at the time he was elected in 1965, he was still a school head at Matobo Primary School, being one of the few schools that were in Tutume village. 

He said at the time the schools ended at Standard Two with only Tutume Central School ending at Standard Seven. 

Upon completion, he noted that students moved to Mater Spei College in Francistown or at Shashe River School and Kgale.

In their era, he said being a leader was seen as volunteer work, which at the time when they asked for funding from the first President Seretse Khama, he would often say to them they should generate their own funds as leaders.

Mr Chilume said the spirit of volunteering their services at no cost was high unlike in these days that volunteering seems to be a taboo as people want returns for their services.

He explained that it was not an easy thing being a politician then as it may seem to today`s politicians, noting that because there were no speakers or public address systems, they relied on door to door campaigning, more so that there were no proper roads and even vehicles.

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