The Discourse of Water Development in Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1900-1965

Abstract

The paper explores the discourse and views on water resource governance and management in colonial
Botswana (then the Bechuanaland Protectorate) in tandem with water resources policy development and
practice from 1900 to 1965. It assesses major developments in the water sector regarding policy interventions
and their impact on the local population and the country over time. An evaluation of water policy
in the southern African nation during the colonial or protectorate era informs the evolution of post-independence
Botswana’s water sector. The study postulates that the colonial administration up to 1965 either
deliberately ignored or was reluctant, due to the costs involved and the existing geo-political dynamics, to
significantly develop the water sector beyond the precincts of isolated white enclaves dotted in parts of this
predominantly semi-arid to arid country. In the absence of clear state policy particularly in the formative
years, water resource governance tended to be arbitrary or highly selective. The arbitrary tendency by the
state often culminated in intermittent tensions among the key water stakeholders. Sporadic tensions over
water as a critical natural resource for development and the diverse scholarly and other views on water
governance all serve to confirm that colonial Botswana did not actively support the development of ample
water resources and comprehensive management structures for the benefit of all. The paper shows that
this trend apparently persisted throughout the protectorate era up to the end of colonial rule in 1965. It
concludes by submitting that in the protectorate era the state did not only neglect water development but it
neglected other development sectors as well