04 Mar 2013

A majority of MPs have cautioned the ministry of lands and housing about the negative consequences of failing to respond to land allocation grievances timeously.

 Debating the motion by Gaborone Central MP, Mr Dumelang Saleshando which called for a comprehensive land audit to be carried out in Botswana, the MP for Kweneng East, Major General Moeng Pheto cautioned that nations have gone to war over land shortages.

He said the situation that the country finds itself in was a disturbing one which needs to be resolved promptly. The laws which guide land allocations, he maintained, were flawed as they allowed people to apply for land anywhere in the country.

He also said large businesses with resources were buying off Batswana’s land for a meager sum owing to their desperation and poverty.

The MP for Francistown South, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi said land in Botswana was held by a few people who were economically privileged. He said many people in positions of power were using their authority to horde land while the poor had to wait a long time before being allocated.

Consequently, he said that Tati Company owns huge swathes of land while 15 000 people were on the waiting list to be allocated land. “In Francistown the oldest application dates back to 1986 and the applicant has not been allocated a plot,” he said.

 The MP for Gaborone West South, Botsalo Ntuane cautioned that the politics of land could destabilise the country. He mentioned that many conflicts in Africa emanated from the land question. He appealed to the minister of lands to meet with youth land petitioners and stop avoiding them.

He urged every Motswana to align themselves with the land petition to highlight the current crisis.  Currently, he said Batswana are being set against each other in Tlokweng because of an artificial land crisis.

“Government should enact legislation which prohibits ownership of land by foreigners,” he argued.

 He mentioned that warning signs were already there in Tlokweng for all to see.  On other issues, he called on government to limit the number of plots that foreigners can have for commercial purposes.

He highlighted that land ownership should go hand in hand with indigenous economic empowerment.

The MP for Kanye North, Kentse Rammidi said that the ministry of land’s procedures would in future create problems for the country.  Furthermore, he said that in Francistown, land had been banked for many years without being developed but was never confiscated.

However, he said that Batswana were being threatened with repossession of their fields which had not been developed.

On other issues, the Minister of Lands and Housing, Mr Lebonaamang Mokalake supported the motion but observed that this was what his ministry wanted to achieve through LAPCAS.

Currently, he mentioned that 136 000 files had been completed in an effort to determine who owned the land, where and for what purposes.

He noted that his ministry had partnered with the Swedish who have experience in land administration. This exercise, he said, had been allocated P70 million.

Furthermore, he asserted that there was need to determine if Saleshando’s motion was different from what the ministry was doing to avoid running a parallel exercise which could prove costly.

The minister explained that it would be wasteful to replicate what was already happening at his ministry. “LAPCAS has gone too far and can’t turn back as we don’t have enough resources and time,” he added. ENDS.