Barriers hindering allocation of land repossessed for urban expansion: The case of Goodhope in Botswana

BOTSWANA IS FACED WITH BALLOONING URBANISATION AND SOMETIMES PLANNING AUTHORITIES REPOSSESS TRIBAL LAND FOR URBAN EXPANSION. IN THE CASE OF GOODHOPE IN BOTSWANA, ELEVEN (11) FAMILIES WERE DISPLACED FOR URBAN EXPANSION AND COMPENSATION WAS PAID, HOWEVER, THE REPOSSESSED LAND REMAINS UNALLOCATED FOR OVER TEN YEARS AFTER IT WAS ACQUIRED. AS A RESULT, NO ONE IS BENEFITING FROM THE LAND SINCE THE AFFECTED PEOPLE WERE DISPLACED BUT AT THE SAME TIME THE INTENDED BENEFICIARIES HAVE NO ACCESS TO THE SAME LAND. THIS STUDY AIMS TO EXPLORE THE UNDERLYING CAUSES OF DELAYS IN THE ALLOCATION OF EXPROPRIATED LAND, FOCUSING ON PERI-URBAN AREAS, BY EXAMINING THE CASE OF THE ROLONG LAND BOARD AND SIMILAR SITUATIONS GLOBALLY. BY ANALYZING THESE CAUSES AND THEIR IMPACTS, THIS RESEARCH WILL INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CURRENT SOLUTIONS AND PROPOSE POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS TO EXPEDITE THE ALLOCATION PROCESS AND ENSURE A MORE EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO LAND MANAGEMENT. THE RESEARCHERS ADOPTED A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHOD, SPECIFICALLY THE CASE STUDY APPROACH. DATA WAS COLLECTED THROUGH A COMBINATION OF DOCUMENT ANALYSIS, QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEYS, OBSERVATIONS, PHOTOGRAPHY AND KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS. A SYSTEMATIC CONTENT ANALYSIS WAS USED WHEN THE DATA WAS ANALYSED. FINDINGS INDICATE THAT 327 PLOTS REMAIN DELAYED IN ALLOCATION FOLLOWING COMPULSORY LAND ACQUISITION, PRIMARILY DUE TO CHALLENGES IN ACCESSING AND MAINTAINING LAND RECORDS, INADEQUATE RECORD-KEEPING PRACTICES, AND THE ABSENCE OF MAPPING FOR CERTAIN ACQUIRED LAND. THE STUDY RECOMMENDS PRIORITIZING TRANSPARENCY IN PLANS AND TIMELINES, ALLOCATING SUFFICIENT FUNDING AND RESOURCES TO MITIGATE FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS, AND FORMULATING CLEAR STRATEGIES FOR THE DEMOLITION OF PARTIALLY DEMOLISHED STRUCTURES TO ENSURE EQUITABLE COMPENSATION FOR AFFECTED PARTIES.