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Bakwena-ba-Sechele Clan — History & Meaning
Tswana clan · Setswana
Totem Crocodile (kwena)
History & origin
The Bakwena-ba-Sechele are the principal Bakwena merafe of Botswana, centred on Molepolole (about 45 km west of Gaborone) and named for their famous 19th-century king Kgosi Sechele I (c. 1829–1892). The Bakwena ('those who venerate the crocodile', totem kwena) trace their ancestry to Kwena, held to be a grandson of Masilo I of the Bahurutshe (c. 14th century); the Batswana Kwena line moved across the Madikwe (Marico) River into present-day Botswana under leaders such as Kgabo II. Sechele I is historically notable as an ally and the first known African convert of the missionary David Livingstone, as a skilled diplomat and military leader who resisted Boer pressure (notably the 1852 Battle of Dimawe), and as a major figure in consolidating the Bakwena state. The Bakwena are regarded as a 'parent' tribe from which the Bangwato, Bangwaketse and Batawana branched, and are one of Botswana's eight principal Tswana tribes. Leadership has continued through the Sechele line (e.g. Kgari Sechele III).
Associated surnames
Surnames that share this clan: Sechele, Kgari, Bakwena ba ga Sechele.
We publish the full diboko (clan praises) only once we can verify them against documented tradition — for this clan they are still being confirmed. If you can share an authoritative version, corrections are warmly welcomed.