Constitutions Culture and Communities in Africa

  PRIOR CONSULTATION AND CONSENT AS NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF COMMUNAL LAND IN BOTSWANA- THE GA-MATELE TRIBE AND FOREST HILL ES Nwauche (Prof) The nature of the title held by indigenous African communities over their communal land tenure has appeared tenuous and at the mercy of the State that could, in the exercise of its eminent domain, expropriate such property and, at best, be liable to pay constitutionally sanctioned compensation. The requirement that such expropriation requires the consent of the indigenous community appeared far-fetched in many African countries. Botswana is an outlier and reformed her communal land tenure through legislative schemes in the early seventies by recharacterizing tribal land into state land with the consultation and consent of Batswana Tribes. That process of nationalization may have led State officials to believe that it is a continuous process and that all Tribal Land that, for one reason or the other, was not inclu...

  LITIGATION FOR THE RETURN OF NELSON MANDELA’S OBJECTS ES Nwauche (Prof) In this season of the return of stolen or illegally acquired African artifacts, it is gratifying to note the recent unsuccessful litigation by the South African National Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) for the return of the objects owned by late Nelson Mandela that were slated for auction by Guernsey’s Auction House in New York because the artifacts are national treasures that require permits to leave South Africa. As alleged, the Mandela Family commissioned the sale but had not obtained the required permits. In a related incident, the South African Minister of Arts and Culture protested the sale in December 2021 of the Key to Mandela's prison cell on Robben Island, which led to the Auction House postponing the sale of the Key. The intervention of SAHRA in both cases lead to the cancellation of the sale of the Key and the other objects owned by Nelson Mandela scheduled for January 2022. In May 2022, SAH...