Letsoseng’s Tall Order

Source : Kutlwano

Author : Mothusi Soloko

Location : SHAKAWE

Event : Interview

It`s Sunday evening September 7, 2014 when Letsoseng Kedumetse arrives unannounced at Shakawe Senior Secondary School. He is not alone. He is accompanied by one of his former initiates, Yotlhe Malepa.

Those who are familiar with this duo`s story may be forgiven for presuming trouble here. Roll back to 2012. Back then, Letsoseng and Yotlhe shocked the country when they quit school while doing Form Four at Maun Senior School to worship the devil. 

A number of teenagers also blindly followed, sending a cold chill down a many Maun resident`s spine and fears of a village cursed. On the other hand, Letsoseng waxed lyrical about his association with the devil and all evil acts that besieged the village. 

As if that was some kind of a fulfilling prophecy, in one incident, students at Maun Senior Secondary School one day woke up to a gruesome sight of parts of a dead dog hanging in classrooms. All fingers pointed to Letsoseng and his group.

However, under pressure and fearing for his life, Letsoseng and his colleagues dropped out of school and dedicated their time to the devil. When Kutlwano team caught up with Letsoseng, he was glad to take them through the life of a Satanist, culminating with a devils prayer in a cave that had become his spiritual home.

 It was then that I realised that we had come a little too late. Letsoseng was in a miserable state, which made me feel a dismal failure as I frantically fought off the urge to help him.

From our discussions, it became clear that his passion for the devil had obviously stirred a storm in his imagination such that peace and tranquility became alien to him. He was deeply engrossed in his evil occupation and not aware of the destruction he was inflicting on himself.

He needed someone to take him along a path of spiritual redemption, and I offered myself. I made a promise to assist him to repent, wipe out the tattoos that littered his body and put him back to school - that is, if he was willing.

Where there is a will there is a way and God is great. Who would have imagined that today as we visited Shakawe we would find Letsoseng in class at Shakawe Senior Secondary School! A certain church also sponsored his journey to Gaborone to remove his tattoos. 

Notwithstanding, things are not yet rosy attested by a call I received from him and his mother expressing misgivings about his stay in Shakawe. Instead, his mother suggests that it would have been better if his son were admitted at a school far from the Maun, where no one knew about his background. As she put it, she was “afraid that going to Shakawe would only serve to make Letsoseng suffer from memories of the devil.”

 Again, the headmaster, Petrus Mosomane, would also inform us that the Sunday Letsoseng arrived in Shakawe, news that he was “in the building,” spread so quickly that some students came to confirm if the rumours that a “Maun Beasts,” was in the school were true. 

“That is how I got to know that the boys were Satanists. That evening I was very, very disturbed. I told the students to just calm down,” explains Mosomane, his voice dropping to a barely audible whisper. 

At the same time, there was drama at the boy`s hostels. While Letsoseng and Yotlhe were seated, one male student came with a copy a newspaper with a picture and a story about Letsoseng and asked him if he knew the guy in the paper. 

 Letsoseng shook his head and answered, “I have never seen that guy in my life,” much to the amusement of other students who had gathered to have a glimpse of the “Satanists”. Days that followed, the two boys would have a test of character. 

A week later, some parents came to the school with guns blazing and inquired why “Satanists” had been allowed to stay with their children in the school. “It`s not an easy thing for me but I have talked to the student body and the teachers to give the boys a chance,” says the headmaster.

But drama after drama followed especially at the boy`s hostels, forcing Letsoseng and Yotlhe to disconnect from the rest of the student community. “They are stigmatising the boys and discriminating against them but I have assured them of my support and I have the scripture union teacher assigned to give the boys spiritual support,” says Mosomane.

As if that was not enough, Letsoseng had all his clothes stolen. With such hostile environment, Mosomane has been scratching his head pondering how best to handle the situation. “My fear is that these guys are likely to regress.”

While Letsoseng used to believe that he had been to hell`s kitchen and licked the pot clean, he readily admits that living in the school is worse than the hell he once perceived. The two bruising on his neck bear testimony to that. 

“Some students appeared from nowhere and they could have choked me to death had I not run for my life as more of them were coming. I don`t know who they were. They just asked if I am a Satanist and all hell broke loose. They don`t believe I have changed,” he retorts.

Nonetheless, the brave face that you see is just a façade because deep down inside fear stalks him. “I need someone who can always support me spiritually. I want to be transferred to a school, Francistown or Gaborone, where my pastors are but at the moment I`m just trying to ignore all that is happening around me,” reckons Letsoseng.

On the other hand, Mosomane remains positive that “the boys have changed as they always recite inspirational verses. We will closely monitor their situations and if there need to transfer them to other schools, I will take it up with the regional director,” assures Mosomane.ENDS

Teaser:

 

He made a sharp U-turn from his ‘evil deeds` but now he has to fight off the stigma!