Prime delta land war reignites as Saleshando demands return
Spira Tlhankane | Monday February 23, 2026 06:12
However, the Minister for State President, Defence and Security, Moeti Mohwasa, pushed back, insisting the government has “no intention” of building a recreational facility for the President and no budget has been set aside for such a project.
At the heart of the dispute is a vast tract of land in NG28, encroaching into NG21 near Chief’s Island, an ecologically sensitive and high-value tourism zone. The land was acquired in 2021 under Section 32 of the Tribal Land Act.
Wildlife is our farming - Saleshando
Tabling his motion last Friday, Saleshando delivered an impassioned plea, framing the issue as one of livelihoods, identity and economic justice for Ngamiland residents.
“Government has no interest in the land and has no vested interest in it. The government doesn’t farm like those in Kgagodi. In our district, we share our land with the animals. Our agriculture is tourism. You can’t tell the people of Ngamiland that because they are different, Batswapong and don’t farm and don’t raise livestock, therefore their land may be taken away. Wildlife is our farming,” he said as he tabled the motion.
Saleshando argued that, unlike other districts where arable and pastoral farming dominate, communities in Ngamiland depend almost entirely on tourism. “When it rains in Lesenepole, we don’t stand up with ploughs in the rain because we are afraid of planting for wild animals in other areas. Even where we are temporarily given land to farm to escape human-wildlife conflict, the animals follow us. Therefore, the only way we can get life is to use the available land for a tourism business so that our people can sustain themselves,” he said.
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) leader insisted that local structures had rejected the acquisition from the outset. “The council said it disagreed. The Dikgosi disagreed with you. Listen to the voice of the people and the Chiefs. Please listen to the voice of the people of the region who have a thirst to see thrive using their own land,” Saleshando pleaded. “The biggest business in Ngamiland is tourism. Allow the councils to trade in tourism. Let the land go to the council,” Saleshando urged. He argued that district councils across Botswana are empowered to leverage land commercially, and Ngamiland should not be denied the same opportunity. “Give the Ngamiland councils this land.”
A decision rooted in the 12th Parliament
According to Saleshando, the matter dates back to the 12th Parliament when the then Minister of Lands, Kefentse Mzwinila, engaged the North West District Council over the land. “He went to Maun and spoke to the council, but the council rejected him and did not agree,” Saleshando said. “MPs in the region, like Maun East, Maun West, Ngami and Okavango, met with the land board asking to know why land was being taken from the community to belong to the government. Answers failed at the council. The reasons given by the Minister at that time were that the government had decided to take the land. It is approximately the size of Tlokweng village. They took the whole land to build something that he said was going to be used for tourism,” Saleshando recalled.
At the time, Saleshando added that Mzwinila told Parliament the land was free from encumbrances and that no one could claim ownership. Saleshando, however, argued that consultation was treated as a formality. “The Minister explained that what the council said was not binding on them it meant nothing to them. If they have decided as a government, that is enough,” he said.
He further alleged that even the Dikgosi had requested referral to Ntloya Dikgosi, but the government pressed ahead. “The decision indicated that there was no need for consultation with the community. If the government has spoken, it must happen.”
No Presidential resting place - Mohwasa
In response, Mohwasa sought to distinguish between past intentions of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and the current administration’s position. “What we agreed on when we were in opposition is that the government cannot build a place where the President will stay for recreation. We didn’t agree that a facility should be built where the President shall go and take his rest,” Mohwasa said as he responded to Saleshando’s motion.
He clarified that the land in question, approximately 22,000 hectares, was handed over to the government in 2021 and later surveyed in 2022. “The government does not have plans to build a place where the President goes to rest, whether in the Delta or elsewhere in Botswana. There is no budget which is allocated to this process,” he stated. Mohwasa insisted that the government has not “taken” tribal land in the manner suggested. “The fact is, this land is tribal land. Government applied for part of that land, and the matter is before the land board,” Mohwasa emphasised.
He said the objective remains tourism development aligned with Botswana’s high-value, low-volume strategy. “The government’s objective is to attract high-value tourists. The land becomes part of the government’s target lands, so that we keep giving it to people to operate tourism facilities. Government has no intention of getting into the tourism business and no intention of making the President’s place of recreation,” he further disclosed.
“The Nhabe District belongs to Botswana, as all other regions. There is no intention to putthe Nhabe people at a disadvantage. These are Batswana who have rights like all Batswana, “he added.
However, a Parliamentary Question and Answer (Q&A) session last year appeared to paint a different picture. In a formal response to Saleshando, Mohwasa stated that the government had “acquired a land parcel in the Okavango Delta measuring approximately 22,029.2 hectares from Moremi Game Reserve (NG/28)” under Section 32 of the Tribal Land Act and had “no intention to return the land as there are no compelling reasons to do so.”
Mohwasa in the response further indicated that the government was “at an advanced stage in finding a partner to establish a Presidential resort in the area.” “The facility would enable high-profile personalities and dignitaries to visit the area and contribute significantly to the tourism offerings. The envisaged resort is ideal for hosting high-level meetings of national and international importance,” Mohwasa said at the time.
He argued that returning the land would be “a regressive move” that could undermine investor confidence and set a risky precedent. “The presence of a government facility in the Okavango Delta is key to ensuring that the government is a player in a key resource like tourism,” he stated.
Tribunal challenge dismissed in 2022
Looking back, the land acquisition was challenged before the Maun Land Tribunal in a case brought by Lekopanye Mokobela and others. The applicants argued ancestral and prior interests in the land. But the Tribunal ruled against them in March 2022, finding they had not demonstrated “real and substantive interest” sufficient to overturn the Land Board’s decision.
Mohwasa has repeatedly cited this ruling to reinforce the government’s legal footing. “There are no direct community land rights which have been affected by the acquisition. At the time the decision was made, the lease for the area that encroaches into NG21 had expired. Therefore, there were no encumbrances,” he maintained in his written response to Parliament last year.
Saleshando countered by pointing to the government’s January 2025 decision to abandon the acquisition of about 10,000 hectares in Kgagodi/Moremi/Lesenepole and Tamasane after communities demonstrated how the move would affect their livelihoods.
In that case, the government reversed course after villagers showed the land was used for masimo and meraka, carrying cultural and economic significance. “In the Kgagodi case, residents demonstrated real and substantive interests as they have land rights as individuals and as a community. In the Okavango case, there are no direct community land rights which have been affected,” Mohwasa said as he distinguished the two cases.
As Parliament adjourned, the motion underscored a broader tension: who controls Botswana’s most prized tourism asset, and for whose benefit? The government argues that the 22,000-hectare expanse is a strategic national resource to attract high-paying global elites, while Saleshando wants it to be reverted to local authorities to anchor community-centred tourism development. For now, the government insists there are “no compelling reasons” to return the land. In the delta, where wildlife is farming, and tourism is survival, the land question is far from settled.