BATLA intervenes in debt collections

Botswana Association of Tribal Land Authorities (BATLA) this week announced they are ready to help all the 12 Land Boards in the country to recover the P378 million owed to them in lease rentals.

Explaining how they will do this, BATLA President, Kgang Kgang said the organisation will facilitate Land boards with human resources that will help individual Land boards to push their debtors to pay and collect on their behalf.

Kgang, who is also Kweneng Land Board Chairperson, said BATLA’s intervention is prompted by the fact that information on debtors is confidential and protected, therefore it would not be ideal to share it with any third parties who would be engaged, but rather that BATLA as the critical stakeholder in land issues could offer assistance.

“We plan that the payments be made into a Merchant account from which the money will be distributed to the specific Land boards,” he said.

He added that when it comes to land management, it is important for debtors to know that when they were allocated land and given contracts, they were also expected to pay their dues to the Land boards.

“It is unfair to the Land boards because this is the money that should be used for land administration, to do layouts, pay surveyors and purchase of other resources, among other things, which enable Land boards to run effectively and efficiently,” he said.

He added that they have already concluded consultations regarding this arrangement with eight of the 12 Land boards. They have also been engaging some of their big clients including Water Utilities, Debswana and individuals like politicians to come forward and pay their dues, and according to him a large number of them have responded positively and have started paying.

Kgang further revealed that they are currently grappling with issues of delay of services within Land boards as a result of anticipated general election that take place on October 30th. He explained that as it is, some Land boards staff is engaged one way or the other in the election process, which takes them away from their daily duties at their offices.

For example, while members of the public would be queuing for the assistance of a Board Secretary, the Board Secretary would be absent in office but engaged as Returning Officers in the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) trainings that are taking place.

“The elections have affected our service delivery, but we expect that it will be temporary and things will go back to normal,” he said. The BATLA President said they are also looking to implement some reforms within the Land boards that will allow Batswana to take advantage of opportunities to better their livelihoods.

While he acknowledged the snail-pace in the issuance of the Secure Land Titles (SLTs), Kgang explained that since the certificates are digitilised, it takes time.

“You will remember that when the national identity card, Omang, was introduced in 1988, it took long for applicants to have their cards issued, some even came with errors, which took long to be rectified,” he said, adding that it is inevitable for such teething problems to occur.

When SLTs were launched by President Mokgweetsi Masisi for issuance to the general public in June 2022, Land boards across the country held plot owners to a deadline, stating that by October 2022, they ought to have registered their Tribal or State land to get the new SLTs.

However, there has been a delay in the issuance, with Land boards producing only a handful periodically against the large amount of applications that were submitted for SLTs. The SLT is said to unlock economic value of tribal land and is also expected to reduce costs for citizens, as there will no longer be need for private survey and conveyance fees.

Kgang admitted that the process to produce SLTs is also rigorous as it entails interdepartmental checks and balances that might play a role in the delay. He added that the solution to this, could be producing SLTs only upon request, so that only those that can make use of them can apply for them rather than having everyone issued with one even when they have no use for them.

Among other benefits of SLT is that they are expected to provide accurate and reliable information that will enhance prompt and informed decision-making by Land Boards, as well as guard against fraud and forgery.

They will also present a lot of opportunities for landowners including acting as collateral in financial institutions when they seek financial assistance.