The culprits in Botswana�s land shortage

Most land seekers as these pictured recently in Oodi, are young people who cannot afford to buy land or get a mortgage
Most land seekers as these pictured recently in Oodi, are young people who cannot afford to buy land or get a mortgage

Last week’s stampede for land in Oodi shows someone is not doing something right. Staff Writer GREG KELEBONYE looks at some of the culprits and ponders the reality of their transgression. He also considers some possible solutions and tries to find out if they can really extricate Botswana from the bog of landlessness.

Last week tens of thousands of people besieged Oodi Land board premises, each one of them hoping to get one of about 400 available plots in the areas of Dikwididi, Oodi and Modipane.

It is easy to understand why so many people would stampede as they did over so few plots. The plots are given gratis. On the other hand, to buy such a freely given plot, say in Modipane, you would have to part with no less than P200,000. This is more than 10 times the annual income of most people.

Editor's Comment
Congratulations Anicia Gaothuse!

The contest had 10 beautiful young girls as finalists and unfortunately only one could wear the crown.The judges picked Anicia Gaothuse. To all those who feel their contestant should have won ahead of Anicia for whatever reason, hardly; the judges found Anicia to be the best among the best, so desist from disrespecting our newly crowned queen on social media or anywhere else, for that matter! Each of the 10 beautiful young women had supporters...

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