04 Aug 2013

Maun West MP, Mr Tawana Moremi has requested Parliament to adopt a motion calling for the review of land policies and land allocations by land boards to avoid simmering tension in areas such as Tlokweng and Ngamiland. 

Presenting the motion in Parliament on August 2 , Mr Moremi said land boards no longer consulted with communities as dikgosi were no longer involved in land allocation. He further said plots were advertised in the media without taking into consideration the views of the local communities. 

Such a scenario, he said, allowed foreigners to have access to land at the expense of Batswana.  Mr Moremi said after Maun was declared a planning area, a new method of allocating plots through a raffle was adopted. He said in Sekaxa, an ecotourism zone had been declared taking farming land from the people including their access to a river. 

He also noted that there had been confusion as Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) had been advertising plots that were in the Tawana Land Board territory. At the end of Parliament business on Friday, the MPs were still to debate on the matter. ENDS