BATAWANA PURSUE MOREMI GAME RESERVE
HANDING over Maun Educational Park (MEP) back to Batawana community does not mean the community will ease pressure against President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s government, which they say is yet to return to them a complete package of their land, including Moremi Game Reserve (MGR).
Speaking in a recent interview with Okavango Voice
in Maun, Douglas Mokenane, spokesperson for Batawana Paramount Chief’s regiment - Matsaakgang, said, “We do appreciate that MEP has been returned to us and we are hopeful that the same gesture will be extended in the case of Moremi Game Reserve.”
Last week, the government officially handed MEP back to Batawana community. However, Mokenane noted that, “Government took over administration and management of MEP at the same time with that of the Game Reserve. The voice of morafhe, through our Kgosikgolo,
has always been about ownership of MEP and MGR. But we are not saying we mind if these are addressed separately. That is why we are saying the reserve issue has to be concluded as well, MGR has to be returned to us in the same manner MEP has.”
History documents suggest that the Game Reserve, which was officially formed in the early 1960s by Batawana, was taken over by government’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks in August of 1979. For many years, Batawana community have been demanding that the assets be placed back under their management.
When the government insisted that the Game Reserve belong to it, Batawana argued that the reserve is in fact a private entity as all government bureaucracy leading to the reserves approval dealt with it as such. In fact, minutes of an ad hoc committee held in 1963 in Francistown suggested that “it was agreed that there was no objection to a survey of the area which the Fauna Conservation of Ngamiland wished to make into a private game reserve, and it was noted that such survey would be carried out with the Society’s private funds.”
“We know that government has contractual and lease obligations, but that can never be reason enough to stop it from handing it back to us. Leases inside the reserve are basically illegal, but we are not saying we will evict them unreasonably once we get the reserve back under our administration. Our main issue here is on ownership of the land,” Mokenane added.
Moremi Game Reserve is estimated to be sitting on at least one third of the Okavango Delta and houses a large area of the Delta’s wetland, including Chief’s Island.
According to Lonely Planet, “Moremi is unusual because it is the only part of the Okavango Delta that is officially cordoned off for the preservation of wildlife.
The reserve, which was extended over the years, covers almost 5000 square kilometers and has been described by several safari businesses as one of the most beautiful reserves in Africa.
It was set aside as a reserve in 1963 to preserve animals when poaching became more apparrent and was handed over to government in 1979 when it became increasingly difficult for the community trust to look after it.
However, during his tenure in Parliament, Batawana Paramount Chief, Tawana Moremi, suggested that the community was ready to take over the reserve. He was often firing salvos at government for its refusal to hand back both MEP and MGR to Batawana community.
Last year, ahead of the general elections, President Masisi declared that he will hand over MEP back to Batawana and promised that Kgosi Moremi will get his share of land at the exotic Chief’s Island, which forms part of the area. Allegedly, Tawana Landboard has already contacted Moremi and plans are at an advanced stage to allocate him a piece of land at Chief’s Island.