17 Dec 2025

Plot allocation at Shashe Bridge Ward in Maun has ceased on account of environmental sensitivity, existence of aquifers and the area being a flood plain.
Answering a question in Parliament on behalf of the Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Assistant Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Mr Baratiwa Mathoothe, said Shashe Bridge Ward was located in a recognised settlement of Maun therefore, some residents of the ward were legally allocated residential plots, while some part of the land was illegally occupied.
He said those who had illegally occupied land were summoned to appear before the Land Tribunal in 2016, where it was ruled that 81 of the 200 who were profiled be evicted and their shelters demolished.
Mr Mathoothe said during the process of demolition, Tawana Land Board was at some point instructed by the Office of the President to suspend the demolitions so that a nationwide exercise to profile squatters be undertaken with the view to provide amnesty to those who might qualify, based on the criteria to be developed.
The exercise resulted in two groups of squatters, those whose homes had been demolished and those who remained as the instruction was issued before their shelters could be demolished.
Only the properties that met the criteria for legal occupation were formally recognised, while the rest were still classified as squatters within a recongised ward, Mr Mathoothe said
He said no provisions were made for compensation of those whose homes were already demolished, at the time when the demolition exercise was suspended. “This is because the nature of the land occupation did not entitle the occupants to any form of compensation,” he said, adding that a court order was obtained against them and it had not been abandoned.
Mr Mathoothe said no form of arrangements had been made to resettle the affected individuals but were advised to follow the right procedures for allocation of land and that any outstanding issues would be revisited through the relevant land board.
 Maun West MP, Mr Caterpillar Hikuama, had asked the minister to update the Parliament  on the land tenure status of the demolishedhouses at Shashe Bridge in Maun and to further state if the said properties were formally recognised settlements or classified as informal/squatter settlements.

Mr Hikuama had also asked the minister to state whether any attempts were made by the ministry and or land board to regularise the land occupancy of Shashe Bridge residents prior to the demolition and what provisions if any had been made to compensate residents whose homes were demolished.

He also asked if government had made any arrangements for the resettlement or relocation of the affected residents. ENDS