29 Apr 2019

Government views Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) as big components in poverty eradication.

Addressing Chobe community trusts recently, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Kitso Mokaila said government appreciated the potential of trusts in eradicating poverty hence the review of CBNRM Act to ensure resources benefited the communities and investors fairly.

Mr Mokaila noted that previously, some trusts made profit that did not benefit both stakeholders fairly.

He said there was need for the tourism sector to be run in such a way that communities would not only be spectators in their resources.

He implored communities to come up with suggestions that could help in operating trusts better as some board members mismanaged assets.

Mr Mokaila said while there was need to train board members in management, it was imperative to train the entire community since board members only served for specific terms.

Regarding conflict between Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) and Seboba, a Kasane based community trust, Mr Mokaila said the matter should be resolved urgently because the ministry’s objective was not to take over the running of trusts but assist communities in running the entities prudently.

He promised that BTO and Seboba would meet and resolve the matter.

Mr Mokaila said though the tourism and hospitality industry had its complexities, communities should not be bystanders.

He implored the trust to diversify their tourism business and incorporate other activities such as growing vegetables and cattle rearing to supply hotels.

BTO official, Ms Bigani Situme said effective February this year, Cabinet decided that the management of the tourism land bank should be done by land boards while the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism would only facilitate tourism business.

She explained that leases of land allocated by the ministry prior to the Cabinet memo would be regularised as all applications would now have to go through the local land boards.

CBNRM coordinator, Mr Boatametse Modukanele raised a concern about misappropriation of funds by some community trusts. Mr Modukanele however, said the revised Act empowered CBNRM to deny such trusts access to funds when there was maladministration.

He explained that ministry still funded community based trusts and called for prudent use of funds by the trusts.

He lamented that some trusts generated income but failed to come up with distribution mechanisms that could help the communities to benefit.

Mr Modukanele warned trust board members to desist from using entities’ property for personal gain since they belonged to the community.

Chobe Enclave Community Trust member, Mr Frank Limbo thanked the minister for consulting them saying the process gave Batswana dignity and made them realise that they were part of decision making.

Mr Limbo noted that trusts needed to be capacitated.

Ms Sarah Kabimba of Pandamatenga, Lesoma, Kazungula (PALEKA) community trust decried that should the hunting ban be lifted, their trust would lose out as part of its space was used for the Chobe/Zambezi Agro project.

Chobe district council chairperson, Councillor Paul Chabaesele concurred that the misuse of trusts’ assets could lead to their collapse citing that the Kazungula, Lesoma, Pandamatenga (KALEPA) community trust collapsed due to maladministration.

Mr Chabaesele explained that the Chobe Land board had agreed to allocate 2.6 ha to PALEKA as compensation for the area that was used for the Chobe/Zambezi Agro project and pleaded with Minister Mokaila that should the government lift the hunting ban, elephants should be culled in large numbers as they were a danger to residents. ENDS