Khama, Aarone: Birds of the same feather

Okavango MP, Bagalatia Aarone prefers to pass time in a personal Island resort away from the hustle and bustle of dusty Shakawe.“Yes, there is one I am eyeing. I cannot deny that. I want to use it for residential purpose,” he says in a dramatic admission, as he vows to investigate Khama’s acquisition of Diseta Island in Shakawe.

“If President Khama can own a piece of land why not apply to other citizens. I do not care what people say because our forefathers used to live there,” says the youthful legislator. Section 17 (3) of the Tribal Land Act forbids ownership of land which conflicts the use for which it was zoned for. Islands fall in this category, according to a landboard officer who did not want to be named.

However, Aarone, who villagers say owns a chunk of land surrounded by water in the Okavango River, says that he is in the process of acquiring another Island for “both residential and commercial purposes.” When asked whether he is not contradicting the Tribal Land Act, the MP said, “I do not know what those people who made these laws were thinking about because we used to live there. I personally grew up living there and some of our parents have been buried there. I am not doing this because Khama has a piece of land there.”

“Mine cannot be referred to as an Island. One side is in the mainland, the other in the Delta. But there is one I am eyeing,” Aarone said this week dismissing criticism that, much like Khama, he owns an island in Shakawe. It is not clear how he will hold Khama accountable if he is also interested in a similar acquisition. “No one should have an island, except when it is on lease for commercial purpose,” he says, contradicting his earlier statement. He said Khama acquired the Diseta Island sometime in 1999 after persuading an elderly man to leave.
“It is public knowledge that Khama owns an Island. Batswana think that when you are in power, whatever you do is Ok.

I am going to investigate how he acquired the land because he is from Serowe. I do not have any relationship with Khama,” says Arone. Aarone, a Botswana Congress Party (BCP) legislator has been repeatedly linked to Khama and at one point was believed to be considering crossing floor to the Botswana Democratic Party. He has on some occasions been offered free flights by the President to the Okavango constituency, a move that continues to unsettle the BCP.