Fraudsters swindle desperate land seekers

Oarabile Mosikare | Thursday October 2, 2014 09:00

Since January, some people have received calls from anonymous individuals masquerading as land board or Department of Lands officials, promising to speed up their land allocation process. It turns out that this is a scam, which both institutions have distanced themselves from.

The Ministry of Lands and Housing recently published a public notice across media warning the public about certain individuals or syndicates who call unsuspecting members of the public with the intention of cheating them. According to the director in the Department of Lands, Segomotso Maroba, these cases are prevalent in Francistown and Gaborone and surrounding peri-urban areas, especially Mogoditshane. 

Maroba said she did not have the exact number of people who had been cheated, adding that the department was not aware of any reports lodged with the police.

“We understand that some people still receive calls from people who ask them to deposit money into accounts to facilitate either allocation or stop withdrawal of plots,” she said.

Maroba, however, stressed that allocation of tribal land does not require payment.

“For plots on state land, payment can be made only when someone has received a formal offer that spells out the plot number, size and the amount to pay. The person has to formally accept the offer before commencement of payment,” she explained.

She noted that neither the land board nor the Department of Lands could withdraw allocation of a plot without prior direct written communication with the affected persons.