Senator proposes land audit 

Mathatisi Sebusi 

THE Lesotho government has been urged to audit the country’s land and develop a 50-year national land masterplan to enforce accountability and sustainable utilisation of the country’s soil. 

Lesotho’s land regulation policies were not enforced, resulting in agricultural land diminishing in a country which has only ten percent of arable land. 

According to the World Bank, Lesotho’s arable land was a mere 429 000 hectares in 2021. 

Hence, Senator Seabata Motsamai, recently tabled a motion in the Upper House of Lesotho’s bicameral parliament, proposing an audit of the country’s land as most of the agricultural land was being wasted. 

Speaking to the Lesotho Times this week, Mr Motsamai explained that his motion was motivated by the realisation that despite the country having laws regulating allocation and utilisation of land, agricultural land was diminishing. 

He said that was demonstrated by the sprouting of houses on land in areas that were previously classified as agricultural zones. 

Areas that immediately came to mind were Ha-Foso in Berea District, as well Ha-Makhoathi in Thaba-Bosiu and Thota-Moli in Mazenod, all in the outskirts of Maseru. 

That trend of unregulated conversion of agricultural land in favour of property development had resulted in Basotho farmers losing their livelihoods. It had also led to the rise in food insecurity in the country as a significant percentage of the population, no longer relied on farming, he said. 

As such, Mr Motsamai proposed that a land audit be followed by the formulation of a land master plan to enable the government to know who owned which land, its size and for what purposes. 

The land master plan would also ensure that land was accounted for and used specifically for its intended purpose. 

Mr Motsamai who is the former long-serving Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (LCN) executive director and His Majesty King Letsie III’s appointee in the Senate, said a national land master plan was now imperative. It should be gazetted to regulate land use and allocation. 

“Better planning for different land purposes will ensure sustainability of our soil beyond 50 years. With the master plan, every square meter of land in the country will be accounted for,” Mr Motsamai said. 

“There is no coordination of Lesotho’s land laws. For example, the Local Government Act, 1997 gives councillors authority over land allocation, while the Land Husbandry Act, 1969 gives area chiefs authority over land. In the same breath, the Land Administration Authority Act, 2010 gives the Land Administration Authority (LAA) authority as the main body responsible for land administration, registration, cadastre, mapping and surveying,” Mr Motsamai noted. 

He said because of the lack of the coordination, Lesotho’s land was not planned, hence, people could easily sway from their land’s original use in favour of other purposes, disregarding land laws and the impact their decisions could birth.