SETSO GAMES ASSOCIATION(SEGA); BOTSWANA'S HERO OF TRADITION

Einstein; One Of The Most Creative-Thought Minds To Have Ever Graced Us By Breathing The Same Oxygen We Do Now (Though In Modern Days Tainted). We Have The Theory Of Relativity To Substantiate His Otherwise, Not For Rhetorical Approach, Unquestionable Genius. Then We Have Maya Angelou Poet Laureate To Practically Anybody And Everybody With An Ear Or An Eye Or Even With None Of Either. Attested By Thousands And Thousands Of Souls Living As Free Minded Poets Of Being After Inspiration From The Angel Masquerading In Human Flesh. Great Thing Is, We Have Many More Individuals Intrinsic To This Group Of High Calibre Minds; Newton, Ramanujan, Sun Tzu, Shaka Zulu And To Some; Bobby Fischer. Yes! I Said Bobby Fischer. Perhaps The Best, If Not Only The Most Famous, Chess Player To Have Ever Lived. Surely You Will Agree With Me That Chess Is A Battle Of Wits And Superior Mental Strategy Capabilities So For Sure Bobby Fischer Belongs To The List. I Have Full Confidence In the Fact That Millions Of Other People On This Here Earth Would Support This Claim Without Second Thought. But What About RraMolefi? Side Note; Rra Molefi Was My Neighbour Who Is Well Renowned For His Mhele Aptitude In My Neigbourhood. Doesn’t He Deserve To Be On The List? As Far As I’m Concerned He Does. Mhele Has Nearly The Same Complexity Level That Chess Has. So Yes. Rra Molefi Should Be Added To That List Along With Many Other Batswana With His Rare Skill For The Mental Brawl Game. A Few Years In The Past One Would’ve Doubted The Prospect Of This Becoming A Near-Future Present But Not Any More. Mhele Is Soon About To Go International And I Place This All On The Efforts Of SETSO GAMES ASSOCIATION.

PiEoneers Had The Blissful Opportunity To Interview Them And This What We Managed To Find Out About The Future History Makers Who Will Become Icons Undoubtedly For Globalising Mhele And Many Other Traditional Games Like Chama, Morabaraba Etc.

The Chairperson Of Setso Games Association(SEGA), Kenneth Tebogo Middleton, Said That The Association Was Founded By Kgafela Williams, Batswana Basimolodi(The Company’s Current Treasurer) And He Himself  Back In 2014. It Is Now Run By A Committee Of Six Dedicated Patriots . When Asked About When We Should Expect Mhele To Hit The Olympics, This Is What He Had To Say In His Exact Words “I'm not about it being at the Olympics but there is international competition for the game and they treat it as sport. South Africa sends players and they have dominated internationally. In South Africa they have regional and national tournaments and the Ministry of Recreation and Sports does recognize Mhele (though they call it Morabaraba) as a national sport. So a better question is can we do the same and get some our traditional/indigenous games recognized as official sports, which we are taking strides towards as we seek to affiliate with BNSC.”

When The Objectives Of The Association Became Subject Of Inquiry We Received A Noble 5 Pointed Mandate Which Governs Their Drive;

1. To preserve traditional games such as Chama,
Batho Safe, Maroundas, Suna baby, Diketo, Bolo
ya dithini, Morabaraba, Mhele and others.
2. To promote traditional games.
3. To standardise and regulate Botswana’s
traditional games.
4. To facilitate events/tournaments based on
Botswana’s traditional games.
5. To campaign for the acceptance and registration
of some of the games as officially recognized
sporting codes.

One May Be Worried That Maybe This Is All Talk And No Walk But That Perturbed Individual Would Be Put At Ease By The Powerful Strides The Association Has Already Took To See To Their Objectives. “In partnership with Setso Publishing, the founders of the association have written a book "Metshameko Ya Setso - How To Play Batswana's Traditional Games". This book documents the wealth of Setswana traditional games found amongst the Batswana in Botswana and South Africa. It describes and discusses twelve games. These games are discussed in terms of - What you need to play, How many players, What you need to play, Set up, How to play and the Rules. Call 72626036 for orders. Currently the book has 12 games but we are working on including more games from different parts of the country.” In Middleton’s Untainted Words.

Adding To That, He Stated That They Are Hosting A Mhele Tournament With The Alluring Name “Mhele Wars” Which Will Be Hosted On The 26^th Of August At The BNYC Hall. Registration Is Done At The Diamond Square In Main Mall (In Front Of NDB) And It Is Free But Players Will Have To Play Qualifying Games To Stand A Chance At Winning The Tournament.

Mr Middleton Can Also Be Quoted Saying “we are big on harnessing the power of social media and creating relevant content to share and we also do a lot interaction with people in malls and other public spaces when activating our events.” To Attest To This He Expresses “The people give us words of encouragement and they do appreciate what we are doing. This can only grow. Right now we are in my opinion seeing a surge in interest and popularity of traditional games. Which is exactly what we are here to contribute to”.

Link To Setso Games’ Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/setsogames

And That, Ladies And Gentlemen, Is How History Is Made And Culture Is Preserved.