21 Jun 2023

The one-man-one plot policy and the intensification of land allocations throughout the country has compelled some people to return their plots in order to be allocated at their favourite places.

Over 150 such people, who were allocated residential plots by the Rolong Land Board, have handed back the plots.

This was revealed during a Rolong Land Board press conference in Gaborone. The board chairperson, Ms Gloria Segokgo said those who returned the plots revealed their preference to be allocated at their home villages.

Furthermore, Ms Segokgo also said they were experiencing low turnout when inviting people for residential plots interviews. She said some did not honour their invitation, which could mean  they were weighing their options.

On land related issues, Ms Segokgo noted that they aimed to allocate 2 500 plots during the current financial year after allocating 1 794 plots against their target of 1 784 plots in the previous financial year.

Ms Segokgo noted that the new plots would be allocated in Metlojane, Cwagare, Malokaganyane, Rakhuna, Molete, Makokwe, Cwaanyaneng, Ditlharapa and Hebron. She said they distributed the allocations so that they covered the width and breadth of their area of jurisdiction. Ms Segokgo also said some people were not honest when applying for land and were picked up by the system which showed that they were previously allocated land.

Land board secretary, Mr Sedi Bose said out of the 1 794 plots they allocated, they managed to produce secure land titles for 107 plots and that only a few had been collected. 

He attributed the low numbers to teething problems that came with the implementation of the new Tribal Territories Act. 

He also conceded that they had underestimated the task of producing the secure land titles.

Mr Bose noted that Rolong Land Board had over 21 000 land applications and that close to 7 000 of the applicants had plots and were not eligible for allocation. Mr Bose also said they had zero tolerance for corruption and the illegal occupation of land. ENDS