THE NGWATO OF BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE 61
of supervision to be sufficiently effective. Kgama therefore devised a more direct system of administration. He grouped the more remote communities into the districts to which reference has already been made, and in each placed a resident governor, usually a member of his own family, but sometimes a prominent and reliable common headman. His successors have continued and extended this policy.
The governor is accompanied to his district by his immediate relatives, who assist and advise him. His main duties are to communicate the chief's orders and messages to the people under his control, hear appeals from the verdicts of their chieftains, settle disputes between different communities, organize and direct local public undertakings, supervise the collection of hut-tax and tribal levies, and advise the chief on local political and economic conditions. All matters that he cannot himself settle he must refer to the chief, to whom there is also an appeal from his own decisions. Should he abuse his authority, or otherwise prove incompetent, he may be recalled by the chief, as has happened on several occasions within recent years. Some other man is then sent to take his place. Failing this, his appointment tends to be permanent, and may even become hereditary, unless the chiei sees reason to intervene. The 'protector' of a foreign community continues to represent it at Serowe, and is still the medium through whom its people must approach the chief when they come there to appeal against their district governor or for some other official purpose. But he no longer visits them to claim tribute, the collection of which was abandoned by Kgama, nor does he try the cases in which they are involved. He is now little more than their 'consular agent', his administrative duties having been taken over by the district governor.
All the wards in the tribe, both Ngwato and foreign, are finally grouped into four parallel 'sections' (dikgotla> sing. kgotld)y named respectively, after the leading ward in each, Ditimamodimo, Basimane, Maaloso, and MaalosS-a-Ngwana. The origin of this grouping is not clearly known, but it seems to have arisen from the practice of giving the heir to the chieftainship a large cattle post and creating a new ward of commoners to look after it. The Ditimamodimo cattle post, and the ward created for and named after it, are said to have been established by Chief Molete for his son, Mathiba; the Basimane by Mathiba for his son, Kgama I;