10 Jun 2015

Corruption in land administration and management remains a challenge, hence the need to continue working on improving land administration processes.

However, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands and Housing, Mr Thato Raphaka, acknowledged that corruption in land administration and management was not that rampant compared to other countries.

“We want to learn from experiences in other countries and do more to completely get rid of corruption,” Mr Raphaka said at the recent launch of the Land and Corruption in Africa Project.

He stated that corruption in land matters could be attributed to legal and administrative loopholes. He also cited lengthy processes in land allocation and poor record keeping as other factors that contributed to corrupt practices.

Fighting corruption, he said, required a holistic approach that could focus on the legislative framework and structures. He said it was for that reason that the ministry’s strategies had over the years included preventative measures, which covered education and training to counteract the evils of corruption.

Other strategies included facilitating auditing of existing laws, policies, systems and land administration procedures in order to identify loopholes that might influence corruption.

Mr Raphaka underscored the need to instill a sense of discipline by preaching the public service charter and ministry values such as integrity, teamwork, transparency and accountability. He said they intended to have organisations that would uphold ethical standards in the discharge of their duties with all customers.

“It is for this reason that in 2009, Botswana started a land reform project called Land Administration Procedure, Capacity and Systems (LAPCAS). The overall development objective of the project is to have a focused social and economic development of Botswana,” he said.

He noted that a good and functioning land administration system was a pre-requisite for the country’s economic development. ENDS