The BCP demands the suspension or legal justification of PEEPA’s recruitment exercise, warning that unlawful Land Board appointments could expose land allocations to court challenges.
GAZETTE REPORTER
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has challenged the legality of PEEPA’s involvement in recruiting Land Board members, warning that appointments made outside the prescribed procedure could expose land allocation decisions to litigation.
In a letter demanding that the exercise be suspended pending clarification of its legal basis, the BCP said Land Boards were created by an Act of Parliament governing the recruitment and selection of members for ministerial appointment.
In the letter dated October 13, 2026, Tswapong South MP and BCP shadow minister of lands and agriculture Kesitegile Gobotswang warned that appointments made outside the procedure prescribed by law could be challenged.
Gobotswang has written to Lands and Agriculture Minister Edwin Dikoloti demanding answers over the Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency’s (PEEPA) advertisement inviting citizens to apply for positions in “Land Governance structures” at national and local levels. The application deadline was October 19, while the terms of current Land Board members expire in November.
Legal Authority
The BCP is questioning whether PEEPA has the authority to recruit members of institutions governed by the Tribal Land Act, 2018. The Act provides for the appointment of Land Board members by the Minister under a prescribed procedure.
“It is a matter of law that neither the Act nor the regulations confers any function on PEEPA in the recruitment, selection or appointment of Land Board members,” Gobotswang says.
He argues that Land Boards are statutory land authorities, not public enterprises or parastatals for which PEEPA advises Government on board appointments.
“A power that Parliament has vested in the Minister, to be exercised in accordance with a prescribed procedure, cannot be handed to another body, or exercised through a different procedure, without authority conferred by law,” he states.
Eligibility Questions
The BCP is also questioning the qualifications and responsibilities outlined in PEEPA’s advertisement, which requires professional qualifications in specified fields and assigns functions involving investment, revenue mobilisation, grants and strategic partnerships.
Gobotswang argues that the professional qualification threshold is not provided for under the Tribal Land Act and could exclude citizens who are legally eligible for appointment. He also questions why the advertisement does not expressly address statutory disqualifications, including restrictions on holders of political party office.
Unclear Structures
The letter further challenges the reference to national and local “Land Governance structures”, asking whether the recruitment concerns existing Land Boards or proposed institutions such as a reported Land Commission.
“To our knowledge, no written law establishes ‘Land Governance structures’ at ‘national and local levels’, a national ‘Council’, or a ‘Land Commission’ with the functions the Advertisement describes,” Gobotswang wrote.
Quorum Risk
He warns that if current members’ terms expire without lawful successors, Land Boards could be left without the numbers required to form a quorum, disrupting their statutory functions.
“Any appointment made outside the prescribed procedure would be open to challenge, and decisions of Land Boards so constituted, including allocations of land held in trust for citizens, would be exposed to being set aside,” he states.
Answers Demanded
Gobotswang has requested a written explanation of the legal authority for PEEPA’s involvement, whether the Attorney General was consulted and what arrangements are in place to ensure the lawful appointment of successors.
He has also asked Dikoloti to direct PEEPA to suspend the process or publish its legal basis, insisting that no appointments should be made until their lawfulness is established.
The letter has been copied to the Attorney General for advice on the legality of the recruitment exercise.