Africa-Press – Botswana. Completing a total of 273 land appeal cases across the country between April 1 and December 31, 2023 was among the successes of the Land Tribunal in the 2023/24 financial year.
Minister of Justice, Mr Machana Shamukuni said this when presenting the Land Tribunal’s recurrent budget estimates of about P44.3 million in Parliament.
Mr Shamukuni explained that 65.6 per cent of the appeals were concluded within established timeframes.
However, he said challenges still persisted in the Gaborone division, where a backlog of cases was registered due to a disparity in case inflow, low disposal rates and staffing constraints.
The minister said mitigation measures being implemented to expedite case resolution in the Gaborone division included engaging presiding officers from other divisions.
“There are four (Land Tribunal) divisions strategically placed across the country to promote greater access to justice and delivery of services. These divisions are in Gaborone, Palapye, Francistown and Maun,” he said.
Mr Shamukuni explained that the Land Tribunal was mandated to hear and determine land appeals from decisions of land boards and planning appeals from decisions of physical planning committees.
“The Land Tribunal is a court of equity and law with special attributes aimed at inexpensive, less complex and speedy resolution of land disputes,” he said.
He further said strides had been made in drafting of the Land Tribunal Regulations, pointing out that the final draft regulations were submitted to the Attorney General in December 2023.
He said the regulations were aimed at guiding conduct of proceedings before the Land Tribunal.
Concerning the 2024/25 financial year budget, Mr Shamukuni said it would cover salaries, allowances, and other operational expenses.
Mr Shamukuni further said the Land Tribunal would construct offices for the Palapye Division, at a budget of P9.8 million in the 2024/25 financial year.
He said funds for the project were included in the Ministry of Justice development budget estimates.
He said addressing immediate office space concerns, minimal office partitioning of the currently rented offices was earmarked for this financial year.
“These initiatives reflect the Land Tribunal’s dedication to enhancing its infrastructure for efficient future operations,” he said.
Debating the budget proposal, Vice President Slumber Tsogwane who is also the Boteti West Member of Parliament, said there was need to give the Land Tribunal more powers.
Mr Tsogwane said land boards should be obliged to implement judgments of the Land Tribunal timeously and without failure.
He further asked for construction of a Land Tribunal division in his constituency to bring services closer to people.
Palapye MP, Mr Onneetse Ramogapi called for establishment of an Appeals Tribunal, where complainants not satisfied with how the Land Tribunal handled their cases, could refer their matters.
Mr Ramogapi further asked for the Land Tribunal to have more judges with law qualifications.
Nata/Gweta MP Mr Polson Majaga said the budget of the Land Tribunal should be increased significantly in the next financial year to enable it to handle land disputes.
Mr Majaga said a lot of land matters remained unresolved at land boards across the country. He said land being a sensitive issue, its matters should be handled carefully.
Meanwhile Parliament approved the budget proposal.
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