Okavango Delta communities fear impending relocations
Boniface Keakabetse | Thursday January 26, 2017 15:27
Government is currently implementing the creation of an eco-tourism park, which was recommended in the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) of 2008.
The ODMP recommended the extension of wilderness areas in the outskirts of Maun closer to the village to bring wildlife from the Okavango Delta closer to Maun. It is argued this would diversify the tourism market in Maun. To achieve this, the buffalo fence, a veterinary fence that separates Maun from the Okavango Delta, would be realigned closer to Maun.
The North West District Council (NWDC) supported the recommendation by including the proposed park in the Maun Development Plan (2010) and zoning an area north west of Maun as the Maun Ecotourism Park (METP).
However the METP has been embroiled in controversy due to community disapproval. The park will affect communities in Boro, Ditshiping, Daunara, Sexaxa and other settlements in the Delta and is generally viewed as a land grab for tourism.
Fearing an elections backlash in 2014, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) vehemently denied that there were plans to set up the METP. Speaking during a political rally which featured President Ian Khama in Maun East, then Lands and Housing minister, Lebonaamang Mokalake flatly denied there were plans to set up METP and relocate residents of affected settlements.
At the time of Mokalake’s denial, NWDC councillors had already approved the park during a full council meeting in March in 2014. However post elections, last year, the District Land Use Planning Unit (DLUPU) committee undertook a series of consultation meetings with the affected communities on METP. In an effort to water down tempers, Government apparently changed the scope of the initial park. However, the return of METP still came as a shock to communities who believed Mokalake’s denial during the 2014 rally. Kgosi Gaditshwane Mmutle of Shorobe confirmed in an interview that DLUPU came to Shorobe last year. “They told us that the park has now been changed and there will be no buffalo fence realignment and relocations. It was explained that cattle farmers would not have to relocate the area as initially proposed,” he said.
Mmutle however explained that the community does not know what to believe anymore as they had been told the park establishment would stop. Frank Mafela who is a resident of Sexaxa, one of the affected settlements, explained that farmers in the area suspect Government is planning to set up the park and later instruct them to move.
NWDC vice chairperson Lathang Molonda confirmed that DLUPU undertook consultations with communities recently on the proposed changes to METP. He explained that it has been resolved that there will be no need to relocate communities from the area.
“We have realised that for eco-tourism, cattle can coexist with wildlife so there is no need to relocate anyone.” Molonda claimed a mix-up had taken place in 2014. “Mokalake might have been unaware of the METP project as the project is overseen by the council,” he explained, strenously denying Mokalake deliberately misinformed people.