BPP condemns Gov’s P1.4bn purchase of land from Tati Company
Botswana People’s Party President, Motlatsi Molapisi has called on Batswana, mostly in the north east to take government to task concerning the planned P1.4 billion purchase of 45 000ha of land from Tati Company.
Molapisi who came short of calling Batswana timid and ignorant of what is happening around them told The Voice in an interview that the decision to buy virgin land back from the Europeans will take Botswana back 57 years.
“It’s ridiculous. These people grabbed the land before Independence, and now we’re buying it back from them. For what? How did they even arrive at that figure?” asked Molapisi.
The opposition politics veteran further said he’s not shocked that President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his government would take such a decision.
“He knows he’s ruling over a people who never question anything, so the decisions that he takes are not necessarily for the benefit of Batswana, but for him and his handlers,” he said.
“Our position as the BPP is that, the land was acquired freely and should be given back without any compensation,” Molapisi said.
The BPP leader said the party whose rallying cry is ‘Shango’ meaning land, has never changed its stance from that of the founding fathers like Phillip Matante.
“One of the reasons Matante was at loggerheads with the ruling Botswana Democratic Party for so many years was the issue of land. He had wanted the land to be taken from the white settlers and redistributed to the natives, but of course the BDP under Seretse Khama decided to leave them with these huge chunks of land,” recalled Molapisi.
“It’s that silly decision by the BDP then that we’re paying for today,” he said.
“This is exactly the same with Gantsi, Lobatse and the Tuli area. Batswana are surrounded by farms whose owners they don’t know, while they are reduced to sharing small grazing areas. The decision to give land to the whites for free was the beginning of poverty for the natives,” charged Molapisi.
Molapisi who’s also the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Chairman said President Masisi is not telling the truth when he claims that they proposed to buy the land back.
“Tati company offered, and they demanded money because they no longer want the land. It is an investment that has now matured and they’re cashing in,” Molapisi said.
“If we had a leader with balls, everything should be the other way round. We should take the land, and offer them a fraction of what government intends to pay,” he said.
The BPP President further called on Batswana to take action and demand their land back.
“When BPP was formed, we were labeled radical, and sometimes tribalists, but this is exactly what Matante was guarding against. He had foresight. Today Batswana are hemmed in in. There’re big farms all around us;
“There’ll be no help coming from this government. Take pliers, cut those farm fences every night until something gives,” fired an animated Molapisi.
He further said he’s worried that government want to turn the land into state land, while it was stolen from North East.
“This land should be incorporated into the North east. How will this district grow without any land,” he asked rhetorically.
