11/06/2026
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GHANZI LAND BOARD ADDRESSES WEST HANAHAI COMMUNITY'S CONCERNS
In a bid to promote community engagement and accountability Ghanzi Land Board addressed West Hanahai Community on 2nd June 2026. The community had made a call through a letter to the board requesting to be addressed on their village boundary, noncompliance to Integrated Farming policy and land use conflicts in the GH 10. In his welcome remarks the West Hanahai Chief, Kgosi Khoxo expressed gratitude on Ghanzi Land Board for responding to their requests stating that by so doing, the board promotes collaboration and builds open dialogue between the board and the residents.
The West Hanahai Community had highlighted the board that there were arising conflicts at the ploughing fields as some famers were not containing their livestock within their integrated farms as per the requirements, hence resulting in the livestock destroying crops in the fields .The livestock destroy other farmers efforts of production in their fields hence defeating the governmentβs agricultural support programs that seeks to ensure effective food security in the households. The community also brought to the attention of the board the village boundary between West and East Hanahai villages stating that the villages are intersected hence making it difficult for the community to understand where each village should expand their community projects.
The community also emphasized the need to locate their village boundaries as they were alive to the major developments and infrastructures that are envisioned to affect their community. Furthermore, the community was concerned about the conversion of some part of the Wildlife Management areas that were horizoning their village. They decried that the de-zoning of such areas has a potential to disrupt the wildlife resources they had enjoyed as a community that enhanced their tourism investments. Above all the community denounced that Ghanzi Land Board was delaying on the allocation of land in their village, thereby stalling the efforts of the community to take advantage of the potential projects that are already within reach in their village.
In response to the integrated farming requests the Deputy Chairperson, Mr Thapediso Gabaisiwe informed the community that the integrated farming program was established as per Presidential Cab. 2 (B) of 2012 in a bid to shift away from traditional land-separation practices in order to optimise resources such as land, labor and capital. The Chairperson further emphasized the importance of engaging in the program as it would yield more to the farmers should they concentrate their efforts of production in a single piece of land. Moreover Mr. Gabaisiwe, stressed that it was critical for the famers to comply with the set requirements of the integrated farming program such as fencing and demarcation to avoid conflicts that may arise within the community of farmers in their specific areas, in their case, ploughing fields. In addition, Mr. Gabaisiwe called on the Community to continue to engage with the land board to report farmers who were violating the set provisions of the land use. He encouraged the community to take up the fencing subsidy and Lemang Dijo programs to enable them to utilize their land to its capacity.
When alluding to the Deputy Chairpersons remarks, the Board Secretary, Mr Bernard Phillimon advised the community to report any suspected acts of crime such as stealing of the cluster fences bordering their fields to the relevant authorities for action in accordance with laws of Botswana. He further emphasized that failure to report such defeats the whole purpose of the government that seeks to empower farmers.
When deliberating on the GH10 zoning, the Deputy Land Board Chairperson highlighted that dezoning part of GH10 was done in 2012, through a Presidential Directive in response to Ghanzi District residents who over the years decried that wildlife management areas constrained expansion of land for cattle farming. He enlightened the community about the recently approved Integrated Land Use Management Plan that propose that Okwa Valley portion within the de-zoned parts of GH10 be an exclusive Heritage and tourism development areas.
In response to the village boundaries the Board Secretary, Mr Bernard Phillimon emphasized that the villages were established by the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional affairs as per the settlement policy and their 20km radius was stretching towards the commonly known 44km junction.
In conclusion the Deputy Chairperson updated the community that a base map for residential plots was at a design stage, while the process of availing 206 ploughing fields were now at advanced stage with allocation planned during the current financial year. He further stressed that holding community engagements such as this was of paramount importance as it facilitates an open dialogue and brings together the community to identify the roots of the problem, the harm done and all relevant laws available. The day ended with the board tour accompanied by the Field Officers to the fields to acknowledge the alleged conflicts upon which it was resolved to build a team to conduct further investigations.
