08 Aug 2017

Botswana has over the years experienced social and economic growth which has necessitated the review of land-related laws so as to address challenges as well as unlock the economic value of land and facilitate the ease of doing business.

This was said by the Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Prince Maele when presenting the Tribal Land Bill in Parliament on August 7.

Mr Maele said the bill was necessitated by the continued emergence of economic opportunities which could not be easily addressed by the legislation currently in place.

He pointed out that some of the challenges identified through the nation-wide consultations that preceded the tabling of the bill in Parliament included the  unplanned allocations of un-surveyed plots

He said the unplanned allocations made the subsequent provision of land servicing expensive and difficult.

The other challenge, he said, was the loss of land rights to non-citizens, uncoordinated land delivery process, multiple allocations and encroachment disputes by grantees as well as lengthy registration processes for land title.

Minister Maele said the bill would be instrumental in addressing the challenges, as it would provide for the establishment of an association of land authorities through a legal framework for the purpose of advising on land management issues.

He said the bill would also provide for the registration of tribal land, including old customary land grants made by dikgosi.

The initiative, he said, would improve record keeping and facilitate the issuance of new secure land titles.

The other provisions of the bill, he added, would be to control alienation of land to non-citizens as well as improving transparency and enhancing the capacity of land boards to effectively manage land issues.

The minister said the proposed legislation provided that each land board should consist of eight members appointed in accordance with the prescribed procedure as well as three ex-officio members being the kgosi or moemela-kgosi, one member representing the ministry responsible for trade, and a member representing the ministry responsible for agriculture.

Minister Maele said similar structures would be established at subordinate land boards to ensure decentralisation to the lowest levels, and facilitate the representation of bogosi and other key stakeholders in land board matters.

The bill, he told Parliament, would also make it mandatory for land boards to consult with the tribal administration leadership and district councils in the formulation of polices, noting that the current act only provided for consultation with district councils.

Minister Maele also said the bill provided for the keeping and maintenance of proper books of accounts of the land boards.

“Clause 21 (2) of the bill requires the minister to lay a copy of the audited accounts of the land boards before the national assembly.

This is currently not the case, and it is our considered view that it will enhance transparency in the management of public funds,” he said.

Furthermore, he said the bill also provided for the granting of customary land rights, and has introduced the requirement that all customary land rights be directly registered by the Registrar of Deeds.

He added that it would be a requirement for occupation of land to be preceded by the issuance of a registered title.

He added that the provision would enhance the value of tribal land since it would no longer be necessary to convert customary land grant to common law lease in order to register land.

Mr Maele, however, said the bill prohibited the granting of land under customary land grant to non-citizens unless such a person had been specially exempted or belonged to a class of people exempted by the minister.

The bill, he said, also introduced the concept of controlled land transactions in tribal areas.

He said the bill provided that all proposed land transactions in which the person receiving the land was a non-citizen be advertised to give citizens the first option to buy the plot in question.

That, he said, was intended to protect Batswana from loss of their land rights to non-citizens. ENDS