05 Mar 2024

 Parliament has rejected a motion requesting government to conduct a comprehensive nationwide land audit.

The motion by Bobonong MP, Mr Taolo Lucas wanted  government to determine ownership, distribution, use or misuse of land in Botswana with a view to evolve an efficient, productive and equitable land use plan for the country.

However, out of a total of the Members of Parliament who participated in the voting process on Friday, 16 voted against the motion while 11 voted for the motion.

When asking for the support of fellow legislators, MP Lucas said a comprehensive land audit was needed to determine comprehensive land ownership, use and misuse and reveal who owned what.

He said the Land Administration, Procedures and Capacity Building (LAPCAS) programme had not adequately dealt with the question of ownership, distribution and usage of land in the country.

Mr Lucas said what LAPCAS did was a piece-meal audit which left many questions unanswered, adding that a comprehensive audit was needed.

He said most of the land, especially farms in the country, remained idle and that their owners were untraceable, adding that a comprehensive land audit would determine what should be done with such land.

He said there were open and vacant spaces in towns and villages around the country, but that their distribution was not clear and that some ended in the hands of foreigners.

The MP said while some native Batswana needed a piece of land to build houses, some non-residents owned multiple land pieces.

Therefore, he said the motion would help to devise means of equitable distribution to benefit locals.

The MP for Boteti East, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe opposed the motion, saying land registration had been determined through the LAPCAS programme and that what the motion sought had been done.

He said land boards throughout the country had information about land ownership through the LAPCAS programme, hence many Batswana had been rejected by various land boards on the basis that they already owned plots elsewhere.

Mr Lelatisitswe said government had already addressed the land audit, which he said was part of the ruling party’s manifesto.

However, he said he would support a motion calling for the taxing of people owning multiple land in the country and said government was ahead on the land audit.

Vice President and Boteti West MP, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said information on land ownership was in the public domain and there was no need for the motion.

He said the information that the motion sought to gather was used by all land boards in the country to allocate plots, adding that some people were being rejected by land boards on the basis that they already had land.

He further said the land audit would not be a solution to multiple plot ownership in the country as people were buying land, adding that a solution would be to stop the buying and selling of land. Ends