29 Jun 2015

A total of 2 310 residents of Ledumadumane in the Kweneng District will be considered for plot allocation in a bid to address the long pending land allocation in the area, Kweneng Land Board (KLB) secretary, Ms Tlotlego Rampha, has promised.

Addressing Kweneng full council meeting on June 26, Ms Rampha said action to fast track allocation was as per a government directive for KLB to allocate plots to children whose parents’ fields were appropriated by the land board around Ledumadumane area to pave way for the expansion of Gaborone.

Such a directive followed President Lt Gen.Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s kgotla meeting at Ledumadumane sometime in April where the residents complained about delayed allocation of plots after their parents’ fields were taken by the land board. 

Ms Rampha stated that following consultative processes with relevant stakeholders, it was finalized that the affected individuals be considered for allocation through a principle that would guide the process. Some of those to benefit from the exercise were orphans whose parents were eligible for allocation 

The land board secretary said they were in the process of vetting the 2 310 names of applications submitted to them with the hope of completing the exercise by end of July when allocation for the affected children would be concluded by December.

The full council was further briefed that the land board was faced with a serious challenge of acquiring land for village expansion in the areas near Gaborone because plot owners were contesting compensation deals; she cited Metsimotlhabe Block Four as one of the affected areas. 

Cllr Molatedi Selala’s view was that the gesture must be extended to other areas such as Thamaga as the problem was not peculiar to Mogoditshane alone, adding that it would be unfair for grandchildren to be accorded the same privilege when they were not eligible at the time the fields were acquired.

Cllr Moemedi Mokgachane concurred with the fact that it would be unfair for Ledumadumane residents to be given preference over other areas such as Merope residents who have as well been disadvantaged since 2000. ENDS