Africa-Press – Botswana. Government should avoid a blanket approach when addressing issues affecting the indigenous people, says Member of Parliament for Okavango West, Mr Kenny Kapinga.
Mr Kapinga made the remarks during a leadership forum with the inter-ministerial committee yesterday following a consultative meeting with Basarwa community in the Okavango District. He thus advised the committee to consider that the community was divided into district groups with different dialects and the challenges they faced also differed hence a blanket approach could not work for all of them.
“We all agree that indigenous people have been disadvantaged and excluded from participating in the economy of the country, excluded socially as they were not recognised in societal structures and their areas are under developed. We appreciate that government is making efforts to improve their living conditions but ‘one size fits all’ approach cannot work,” he said.
He said the committee should focus on social injustice, acknowledging that some issues would not be easy to resolve.
“You should not pretend to address issues of communities in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) the same way with Tsodilo community, but you should be specific to certain groups,” he said.
Further, he observed that the mentioned challenges characterised the entire district and the communities were very poor and struggled to make ends meet. He also said the exercise undertaken by the committee was not new, citing that other countries such as Brazil had been actively working to address issues faced by indigenous people like cultural preservation, economic development and land rights among others.
However, he said access to education was paramount to bring about a total transformation among children of indigenous people noting that he was against the arrangement separating children from their parents to keep them in hostels especially at a young age. He said children, with involved parents in their education would perform better academically as parents support created a positive environment.
The committee was updated on a comprehensive report that provided a detailed examination of Basarwa communities living in the Okavango District, specifically in the villages of Tobera, Gudigwa, Kaputura, Shaikarawe (un-gazetted settlement), Xaixai, Qangwa, Dobe (un-gazetted settlement) and Tsodilo. It stated that Basarwa, historically relied on the Okavango Delta’s ecosystem for survival, but upon relocation government policies, conservation laws, and uneven economic development left them marginalised, economically vulnerable, and culturally displaced.
The report also indicated that despite interventions of both past and current policies and programmes such as Basarwa Development Programme, Free Special Game License, Remote Area Development Programme and Affirmative Action Framework for Remote Area Communities (2014), many still depended on social protection services. The report also captures recommendations for immediate and long-term solutions to improve the Basarwa’s socio-economic conditions while preserving their cultural identity and upholding their human rights in line with their submission during consultations.
Presenting the report, Chief Development Planning Officer, Ms Peggy Munduu said multi-faceted approach that balanced immediate needs with long-term structural changes was required in addressing the complex challenges Basarwa communities faced. In the medium term, she said development efforts should focus on creating opportunities that aligned with Basarwa traditions such as community-based ecotourism, sustainable foraging, and craft industries rather than forcing assimilation into unfamiliar economic systems.
“Long-term change, however, depended on securing land rights and giving Basarwa communities a real voice in decisions that affect their lives,” she added.
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