14 Mar 2022

A resident of Artesia has proposed that the law must dictate that the allocation of ranches should be reserved only for groups. This, according to Ms Motlalemetsi Marogwe, would ensure that agricultural land remained accessible to citizens in the future. 

She was making her submission to the Presidential Commission of Enquiry into Review of the Constitution Monday.  

Ms Marogwe observed that should individuals continue to be allocated ranches, future generations would have nowhere to carry out agricultural activities.

Elaborating on her submission in an interview afterwards, she said should the current situation be maintained, future generations would have nowhere to do agriculture, as all the land would have been taken.

She noted that looking for a ranch would have to satisfy a set of requirements, among them being a clear commitment to utilise the land fully and effectively.

She indicated that the law should provide for the groups to be dispossessed of the land if they violated those requirements.

She said partnerships with key strategic investors would have to be permitted so citizen landowners could under-study their partners to later run alone.

Partnerships would also enable the locals to secure crucial agricultural machinery whose acquisition would be difficult without the financial muscle of the investors, she argued.   Ms Marogwe said in implementing that provision of the law, priority should be given to marginalised and poverty-hit sections of society such as women and People With Disability (PLWD), who she pointed out would, in addition to enhancing their economic status at household level, also contribute to the country’s food security.

In the end, Ms Marogwe proposed for the law, once in effect, to provide for the assessment of existing ranches in the hands of individuals to ensure that they were compliant to parameters that would be set to regulate the output of ranches in the country.

Visually-impaired Mr Dikgang Lekgowe pleaded for the rights of PLWD to be enshrined in the constitution.

Mr Lekgowe told the commission that despite the hardships that PLWD faced on a daily basis, it was disheartening that government was not doing enough to ease their suffering.

He said the law should therefore enjoin the state in clear terms, of its obligations towards them, and make provision for legal recourse should such be violated.

On the provision of law informing the nomination of specially-elected Members of Parliament and councillors, Mr Samuel Maabong described as unfair and discriminatory, selection of such individuals only from the ruling party.

The practice, Mr Maabong said, denied Batswana the opportunity to benefit from the skills and strengths of capable individuals from opposition ranks. ends