In Botswana, activist Roy Sesana becomes an honorary doctor — Mongabay
In Botswana, 97-year-old Indigenous rights activist Roy Sesana received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Botswana. The distinction was awarded on October 23 for decades of fighting for Indigenous peoples’ rights, cultural identity and dignity, Mongabay reports.
Struggle for San lands
Sesana opposed the eviction of San communities from their traditional lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The relocations took place in the 1990s and early 2000s. Botswana’s government explained these actions by citing the need for nature conservation and the difficulty of providing public services in the reserve.
Nearly 20 years ago, Botswana’s High Court ruled in favor of Sesana and other San representatives who challenged the evictions. In 1991, he helped found the First People of the Kalahari organization, and in 2005 he received the Right Livelihood Award for defending his people’s right to live on their traditional lands.
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Plans to restore rights
Botswana President Duma Boko, who had previously represented San communities as a lawyer in the court case, attended the ceremony and recognized Sesana’s struggle. After taking office in November 2024, Boko established an interministerial committee to consider longstanding Indigenous peoples’ grievances and is advancing plans to restore community rights in the 52,000-square-kilometer reserve.
According to Anthropos Africa Executive Director Michael Taylor, in September 2026 the government approved a plan providing for the return to Indigenous communities of legally protected land rights. The reserve is to retain its conservation status, while communities are to play an important role in caring for it. According to Botswana’s government news agency, Sesana dedicated the honorary degree to the Basarwa and the people of Botswana. Before the ceremony, he told The Botswana Gazette that the struggle for ancestral lands, self-determination and livelihoods is still far from over.
