19 Dec 2021

Tawana Land Board continues to dialogue with squatters to try and solve the issue of illegal occupation amicably.

The land board chairperson, Mr Emmanuel Dube said this at a press conference on Thursday.

He said that the land board was grappling with the issue of squatters across the North West District, with Maun Sub-land Board having the highest number of squatters in the Tawana Land Board’s jurisdiction.

“The Board is concerned about people who continue to occupy land without being allocated.

This is totally unacceptable and should stop,” he said.

Mr Dube said that Tawana Land Board took necessary steps to curb illegal occupation by engaging with the squatters.

He said that the land board advised the squatters to voluntarily vacate the plots before it took stringent measures.

“At the moment we have not reached a stage of eviction of squatters, we dialogue with them to find out why they do so then follow due process,” he said.

Mr Dube observed that the cases of illegal occupants were treated differently, noting that in some cases, squatters were pardoned.

He urged the illegal occupants to apply for land and wait for their turn to be allocated land. ENDS