- Concerns raised about politically-aligned board members
- Chimbombi says there is no basis for dissolving land boards
BONGANI MALUNGA
Politically-affiliated members of land boards will not be purged even though their credibility has been questioned in the new government, the Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Micus Chimbombi, has said.
According to the minister, although such land board members are mainly people who lost primary elections under the last government of the Botswana Democratic Party, they will be retained because their credentials supersede their political alignment.
Key distinction
Chimbombi was answering a question from the MP for Shashe West, Jeremiah Frenzel, who had queried the credibility of some members of land boards due to their political alignment.
The MP wanted to know if there were any measures in place to dissolve the current membership of land boards across the country.
Chimbombi made a point to distinguish between employees and members of land boards, noting that employees are governed by the Public Service Act while members are governed by the Tribal Land Act.
Prescribed selection process
“Although members of the land boards are supposed to be apolitical, I am aware that some of the board members are people who lost primary elections from the past regime,” he said.
“However, the appointment of land board members follows the selection process as prescribed in the Tribal Land Regulations of 2022.
“The selection process involves advertisement, assessment, shortlisting and recommendation for appointment by the Ministerial Selection Committee.”
Statutory instruments
The minister cited statutory instruments that gave the ministry powers to appoint three members to main land boards and two to subordinate land boards.
“In line with these statutory instruments, the minister can at most appoint 118 out of 342 members outside the recommended list; being 36 for the main land board while 84 is for the subordinate land board,” he said.
“In exercising the powers vested in the minister responsible for lands, my predecessor has appointed 80 out of the 118.
Due process
“The minister is further empowered by Section 7 (2) to appoint a Chairperson from the members of the land board while the Deputy Chairperson is elected by the members among their number.”
Chimbombi emphasised that the current membership of land boards was appointed under due process as guided by the law.
“Dissolution of membership of land boards must be in accordance with the law. At the moment, I have not found any legal reasons to dissolve their membership.”