Prof dismisses envisaged tourism land bank
Boniface Keakabetse | Friday June 17, 2016 14:46
The professor, Joseph Mbaiwa told Mmegi that prime tourism areas taken from land boards to the Ministry of Lands and Housing (MLH) has created an impression that the bank was set up to have prime tourism concessions in the OD allocated to the ‘ privileged companies and individuals.
Mbaiwa has authored an academic paper titled: “Tourism in a Shadow State Environment: the case of the Okavango Delta” in which he argues that the land bank has characteristics of a shadow state scenario. “In a shadow state environment rulers are in strong alliance with their business colleagues and this has impact on how laws are made and how existing ones are implemented,” the paper reads.
Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration Eric Molale recently said the bank would, “maintain an adequate and constant supply of land for tourism development.” Molale explained this during the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana conference in Maun in April. He said that the Tourism Land Bank was initiated to make it easy for investors to acquire land. He said it will be implemented by Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) and MLH. He explained that BTO plays a facilitative role between MLH and tourism operators undertaking tendering processes for the tourism lands.
Mbaiwa stated that in 2014, all prime tourism concession areas in Botswana including the Okavango Delta were transferred from Tawana Land Board (TLB) to MLH through a ministerial directive to create what came to be known as the tourism land bank. “A number of concession areas in OD were through a Government directive transferred from TLB authority to the Ministry of Lands without any consultation with communities, stakeholders and research to inform it,” he said.
Mbaiwa observed that the transfer is a violation of rules and laws that govern land management in Botswana especially the Tribal Land Act of 1968 (amended in 1972). Mbaiwa stated that the Tribal Land Act of 1968 gives land boards the authority to govern and manage land in tribal areas of Botswana. He said there was an arrangement that tourism areas within the Tawana Land Board, the land authority in the area, should facilitate and oversee the tendering procedure for tourism development. Mbaiwa said this tendering process was deemed legal to all competitors. He noted that the management of tourism land has therefore been ‘hijacked by government directive of 2014 which transferred the lands to MLH and BTO.’
He said interviews with tourism stakeholders especially those in government and community-based tourism representatives, they expressed ignorace of what the Land Bank entails or includes except for the recent transfer of prime tourism areas to the ministry. He said the February 2016 Ngamiland Community Based Natural Resources Management Programme forum held in Maun saw community representative displaying unhappiness with the land bank concept and the transfer of their concession areas without their consent.
Mbaiwa stated that the directive came after a series of prime tourism companies complained to government that they were not awarded tenders through TLB tenders. He noted that the land bank issue is a classic case in which politicians make laws and directives to benefit their business partners and themselves while majority of people do not benefit.
Contacted for comment, Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama explained that the tourism land bank has been finalised and would come in to use soon. He opined that contrary to professor’s position, the land bank will empower all Batswana wishing to enter the tourism industry in the delta. He said government has decided that some of the existing tourism concessions will be sub-zoned as they are big to give more Batswana a chance to enter the tourism sector. Khama said the conception of the land bank is one way of empowering Batswana in the tourism sector. Khama said lack of land has been the biggest impediment for Batswana to participate in the tourism sector.