Africa-Press – Botswana. The Khwai community intends to seek the intervention of the Office of the President in a long-winding bid to get back assets which they believe were unlawfully appropriated from them.
They blame the state of affairs on relevant authorities having failed to facilitate them to get back three safari lodges; Machaba, Tsaro and Khwai when their respective leases lapsed as had been the agreement. The leases for the affected lodges came to an end in 2002, 2001 and 2004 respectively, and the community alleges that while it waited for the relevant authorities to facilitate the transfer of the properties, they were surprised to learn that the lease for Tsaro Lodge had been extended without engaging them.
A member of the community, Mr Baefisia Sango informed the inter-ministerial committee that is assessing the Basarwa situation that the community was resolute in fighting to the bitter end to get what was due to them, adding that some of the issues relating to the properties in question were currently before the courts of law. He explained that in 2023 they were told that they would be issued with a lease for Khwai River Lodge, but that the promise did not materialise as the process was halted along the way, though the local community trust had developed terms of reference for expression of interest for operating the facility, an undertaking that was done with the assistance of the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO).
“To our surprise, we learnt that a tender was awarded to a certain company from Gaborone to run our lodge but we refused because it was a direct appointment and also the right procedure was not followed,” he added.
Mr Sango reiterated that the trust also injected over P2 million to renovate Tsaro Lodge and when they were ready to apply for operating licenses, they were told that the structures were not suitable for the environment.
“Since we used bricks for construction, we were advised that the structures should be aligned to the Okavango Delta and by then the technical advisory committee asked us to put the lodge on tender instead of demolishing structures and starting afresh,” he said.
He said despite approaching the issue as per the advice they had been given, the process did not work to their favour as they later learnt that the then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism had awarded the tender to a certain safari company without consulting the Khwai community. Mr Sango said when their efforts to seek the intervention of the ministry proved futile they took the matter to court and won it, adding that they were now seeking government to intervene and facilitate them to sign the lease and operate the lodge.
With regard to Machaba Lodge, the inter-ministerial committee learnt that Tawana Land Board had, in settling its land issues, unlawfully allocated the land that the lodge was sitting on to a certain family in Xaxaba, a decision that did not sit well with the community which felt that the move protected the interests of the land authority at the expense of those of the community.
“We are intending to seek the intervention of highest office and we are pinning our hopes on President Advocate Duma Boko to assist us get our property back. We want him to instruct the land board to compensate the family that was allocated Machaba Lodge and return the land to the community,” he said.
Mr Sango said the legal tussle that was playing out before the courts of law had stalled the pace of developments in Khwai as money that could be driving the village’s development was being spent on litigation.
Mr Kebareeditse Ntsogotlho also shared similar sentiments that they would not rest until they got what rightfully belonged to them. Mr Ntsogotlho alleged that their rights had long been violated when they were relocated from their ancestral land for the establishment of Moremi Game Reserve, ownership of which, he said they had since learnt was being claimed by a certain community trust he did not disclose.
“We will not allow the land board to allocate that land to any organisation because we were told that it was specifically for the preservation of natural resources that will benefit the nation and not a certain group,” he said.
He pinned hope on the new administration to address the issues at hand to ensure that Basarwa, like other tribes, enjoyed all their rights to the letter.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
