Delta lease fallout as Trust accuses gov’t of betrayal
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday February 23, 2026 06:14
In the Statutory notice seen by Mmegi, the Trust accuses the Tawana Land Board and the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture of acting in bad faith, irrationally and in violation of constitutionally protected rights by halting a lease renewal that had already been resolved in its favour in February 2023.
The Trust, which represents residents of Xuxao, Xaxaba, Xharaxao, Boro, Ditshiping and Daonara, says the government has effectively reneged on a relocation agreement under which villagers vacated NG32 to pave the way for tourism development in exchange for rights to manage and economically benefit from the wildlife management area.
Now, nearly three years after the lease renewal resolution, OKMCT says it is being forced to “literally beg” for what was already approved, a situation it describes as betrayal by the very institution it expected protection from.
The Statutory notice compiled by OKMCT attorneys, Bogopa, Manewe, Tobedza and Company, who are acting on behalf of the Trust, has been delivered to the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture and Tawana Land Board.
The Statutory notice states that the Tawana Land Board and the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture are given 30 days to rectify the situation by comprehensively attending to OKMCT grievances; failing which, thereafter, OKMCT will approach the High Court for an appropriate remedy.
“Remedies which shall include but not limited to an order reviewing and setting aside the decision of both the Land Board and the Minister of Lands and Agriculture refusing to award OKMCT a lease in respect of NG32, on account of it being taken in bad faith, unreasonably, irrationally, illegally and in violation of constitutionally protected rights,” the document reads.
The attorneys also warned that, further, a declaratory judgment that OKMCT will accept the government’s repudiation of the agreement between it and the inhabitants of the six villages, with the result that the residents are allowed to go back to their initial villages within NG32 for resettlement. That both the Land Board and the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture pay the costs of the suit.
The document states that on or about February 23, 2023, the Tawana Land Board made a resolution in terms of which it resolved to renew OKMCT’s lease of NG 32 for a period of 15 years.
“Therefore, OKMCT has attempted on several occasions to have the Tawana Land board sign the lease, but in vain, as the Land Board has advanced several reasons not to sign the lease, and in some instances failed to advance reasons for not signing. The last attempt to obtain a signed lease was on January 16, 2026, when the Land Board had invited our client to a Board meeting with the purpose of making a decision on the matter. We advisedly hyphenate the phrase ‘making a decision’ because the decision pertaining to the renewal of the lead was made on February 23, 2023, and therefore, there was no matter upon which the Land Board could competently make a decision thereon,” the court document reads.
The document states that on January 16, 2026, quite unsurprisingly, the Tawana Land Board effectively declined to issue a lease in favour of OKMCT, citing pending investigation of issues as per the instructions of the Minister of Lands and Agriculture.
The attorneys argue that they are of the view that the decision of both the Tawana Land Board and the Minister of Lands and Agriculture smacks of bad faith, unreasonableness, irrationality, illegality, and outright brazen violation of constitutionally protected rights. They say this is so because when the Wildlife Management Area, known as NG32, was created, inhabitants of villages represented by OKMCT were all residents within the area. The government and representatives of the villages in question, in good faith, entered into an agreement with the villagers that they would be relocated to places outside the NG32, so that the area can be used for tourism purposes.
“That the exchange for OKMCT would be that, they would be granted the rights to manage and derive economic benefits from NG32, and that this would be achieved by granting them a lease, whereafter they would be at liberty to contract with operations by way of granting them subleases. That the money generated from the tourism activities would then be applied towards the welfare of the inhabitants of the villagers would have been resettled elsewhere,” the document reads.
According to the court papers, on the strength of the representation made by the government, residents of the six villages were relocated to several places outside the NG32, in so doing, the villagers had to give up, among other things, their land, burial sites of their relatives and many things that they identify with as tribes or villages.
“The government and the Land Board, in making OKMCT to literally beg for the renewal of the lease against an unwilling government, (represented by both Tawana Land Board and Ministry of Lands and Agriculture), the government has reneged on its initial undertaking thus violating OKMCT’s rights as embodied in several local laws (prominently the Constitution), and several regional, continental and international treaties and conventions. OKMCT is sorely aggrieved, feels betrayed, let alone robbed by the government, as an institution which, unfortunately, the Trust expected protection from,” the document further reads.
OKMCT attorneys said what aggravates matters is that, not only has the government resorted to tactics that are clearly geared at violating the agreement, but there are efforts to rezone and demarcate the land that forms NG32 such that people against whom OKMCT lodged a complaint of illegally squatting are, by virtue of such rezoning, having their occupancy legitimatized.
“This is at the expense of OKMCT’s rights and will result in shrinking NG32. What is all the more disturbing is that there is an attempt to assemble a task force to achieve the rezoning objective, which task force comprises some people who are squatters in NG32. This is clearly against good corporate governance and the principle of fairness,” the document reads.
The document reveals that OKMCT is fortified that the government is determined to violate its rights because at one point the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, Natural Resources and Tourism unlawfully arrogated to itself the powers and rights to allocate leases in respect of NG32 without consulting, let alone involving OKMCT or any person who represents it.
The attorneys said actions by the Tawana Land Board and the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture are consistent with frustrating OKMCT until it gives up. The Tawana Land Board notice was delivered on February 11, 2026, while the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture received its notice on February 12, 2026. Contacted for comment, Tawana Land Board chairperson, Reamogetse Yakenge, told Mmegi that she did not know anything. “I do not know anything,” Yakenge said.
Meanwhile, in a resolution taken by the Land Board on January 16, 2026, the latter resolved to defer the issuance of the lease for NG32 to OKMCT as there are pending issues which need further investigation.
“This is based on the strength of the Minister of Lands and Agriculture’s instruction, which directed that all transactions in NG32 be halted, pending feedback from the government,” the resolution read.