Roy Sesana, a 97-year-old Indigenous rights campaigner who opposed the Botswana government over the removal of San communities from their traditional lands in Central Kalahari, has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Botswana.
The university awarded Sesana an honorary Doctor of Letters on Oct. 23, recognizing his decades of advocacy for Indigenous rights, cultural identity and dignity. In an official statement, the university said the honor recognized “a lifetime of service that goes beyond individual achievement.”
The recognition comes nearly 20 years after Botswana’s High Court ruled in favor of Sesana and other San people who challenged their removal from traditional lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Communities were moved in the 1990s and early 2000s. The government justified the action saying it was necessary for conservation and because providing public services was difficult.
Nearly two decades later, one of the lawyers who represented San communities is now Botswana’s president. Since taking office in November 2024, Duma Boko has prioritized Indigenous land rights, established an interministerial committee to address longstanding grievances and advanced plans to restore community rights across the 52,000-square-kilometer (20,000-square-mile) reserve. He attended the recent ceremony and paid tribute to Sesana’s struggle.
Sesana helped establish First People of the Kalahari in 1991 and received the Right Livelihood Award in 2005 for his work defending his people’s right to live on their traditional land.
According to Botswana’s government news agency, Sesana dedicated his honorary doctorate to the Basarwa and the people of Botswana. After the ceremony, he said he was happy to receive the recognition and encouraged younger generations to keep their cultural identity alive.
Members of civil society have praised the selection of Sesana for the honorary degree. Collen Matema with the African Wildlife Foundation wrote on LinkedIn that, “This is historical, congratulations to Dr. Sesana and his community. This is the Africa we want!” Maria Elena Castro said that “the recognition [went] to somebody who deserves it.”
Michael Taylor, executive director of Anthropos Africa, has been working closely with an interministerial committee established by Boko’s government to examine Indigenous rights and develop a roadmap for land restitution.
During the court battle, Sesana “was often seen by many people as public enemy number one,” Taylor told Mongabay in an interview. “He was the one who was taking his own government to court.”
Taylor said the government approved a plan in September 2026 to return legally protected land rights to Indigenous communities. Under the plan, the reserve would stay protected, while communities would gain land rights and play a key role in its care.
For Sesana, however, the recognition does not end his fight. In an interview with The Botswana Gazette before the ceremony, he welcomed the honor but said that “the struggle for ancestral land, self-determination and livelihoods remains far from over.”
Banner image: Roy Sesana, second from right, and Botswana President Duma Boko, third from right. Image courtesy of the Government of Botswana.
