Government has formally withdrawn controversial letters that sought to downgrade Munitenge Lawrence Liswani Sinvula from Kgosi of the Basubiya tribe to a village-level sub-chief, effectively conceding ground after a stinging High Court rebuke.
In correspondence dated 16 February 2026, the Attorney-General’s Chambers advised Sinvula’s lawyers, Mbeha Attorneys, that the impugned letters issued by the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs on 12 and 16 September 2025 had been ‘formally withdrawn in their entirety.’ The withdrawal, the Attorney-General said, takes immediate effect and restores the status quo ante (as it existed before the letters were issued).
The concession follows an interim ruling by High Court judge Godfrey Nthomiwa, who condemned the ministry’s actions as unlawful, irrational and procedurally improper.
In a separate letter dated 17 February 2026 and addressed directly to Sinvula, Minister Ketlhalefile Motshegwa confirmed that, acting on the advice of the Attorney-General and pursuant to the interim ruling, he had revoked and withdrawn the September 2025 decision. The minister stated that the position existing before that decision ‘prevails.’
The dispute arose after the ministry informed Sinvula that he was ‘not a Kgosi for Chobe but for the village of Kavimba,’ and purported to replace his Section 6(2) recognition under the Bogosi Act with a Section 21 village appointment. For the Basubiya community, the move amounted to derecognition of their tribe and their Kgosi, a claim government initially dismissed as the correction of an administrative error.
Justice Nthomiwa rejected that explanation, finding that the letters effectively stripped Sinvula of his tribal authority without following mandatory legal safeguards. The Bogosi Act requires an inquiry, notice, a right to be heard and publication in the Government Gazette before a Kgosi can be removed or downgraded, steps the court found were entirely absent. The judge also ruled that the minister’s reliance on the Basubiya’s lack of representation in the Ntlo ya Dikgosi was ‘entirely unfounded in law.’
In withdrawing the letters, the Attorney-General acknowledged that the decision eliminated the live dispute between the parties, rendering the dispute no longer in existence. Government has tendered costs in respect of both the interim proceedings and the pending review application.
Related proceedings are scheduled for a status hearing on 2 March 2026, and government has suggested that the review matter be dealt with on the same date to bring the dispute to a close.
For now, the withdrawal cements the court’s interim order as Sinvula continues to exercise all functions and powers of Kgosi of the Basubiya tribe, while the September 2025 letters remain without legal effect.