CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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Namibia |
LAND
Namibia’s ongoing land reform programme
has won support from an unlikely
source — the Opposition
Katuutire Kaura is leader of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance, the official opposition party in Parliament. He says that the government’s «willing-seller willing-buyer» policy as stipulated in the country’s Constitution, is the right way forward. Kaura strongly opposes the Zimbabwean style of land repossession, saying it is a political gimmick through which President Robert Mugabe wants to win back lost popularity among the people.
Kaura has the support of another opposition party leader, Kossie Pretorius of the Monitor Action Group. Pretorius is a white politician and his stand on the land issue has been described as «no surprise», since land expropriation would only be targeted at the Whites, and this would probably include himself.
Ben Ulenga, leader of the Congress of Democrats, supports the way the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) government has been implementing the land reform programme. He says that going about it in contravention of the Constitution, would have an adverse effect on some government leaders who have already acquired and fenced off large tracts of farmland.
The ruling SWAPO commands more than a two-thirds majority in Parliament. With all opposition parties represented in the House rallying behind the «willing-seller willing-buyer» constitutional clause, there’s not likely to be any changes by Parliament.
«Expropriation without compensation»
But what’s the feeling at grass roots level? Most of the land-hungry population want land expropriation without compensation. Many ordinary citizens feel that the government of President Sam Nujoma is too slow in the land reform exercise; they also want it to be done the Zimbabwean way — without compensation.
When he was leader of the labour movement, Ponhele ya France was the advocate of this method of land acquisition. He declared: «Land was stolen from the black people and so should not be paid for in order to get it back». Since making this statement, Ya France has since resigned as president of the National Union of Namibian Workers and is now a SWAPO Member of Parliament. In 1999, Ya France led what was called «a land march» on Parliament, calling for land to be grabbed from the Whites without compensation. He is supported in his way of thinking by the SWAPO Elders Council, a grouping of SWAPO veterans and those traditional leaders who support the ruling party.
When the Elders Council held its annual general meeting in November 2000, they strongly criticised the government’s «willing-seller willing-buyer» policy, saying land must simply be taken over from the white farming community and handed over to the rightful owners, the Blacks, «since it was stolen from their ancestors.»
Sensitive issue
The Nujoma government is walking a tightrope over the land issue. Prime Minister Hage Geingob says the land issue is a sensitive one. But President Nujoma does not see it as much of a big deal, saying Namibia is a very large country with a very small population — about 1.7 million people, «and we can easily accommodate one another.» The government says it will only follow the constitutional provisions for taking over land, and has called for the white farmers to cooperate. And they have been doing just that.
Sam Amoo is a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Namibia and has conducted research into Namibia’s land reform over the past 10 years following Independence. According to his findings, since 1990, the SWAPO government has managed to buy 461,000 hectares of land through the «willing-seller willing-buyer» programme. These consist of 79 commercial farms worth N$ 52.4 million. (US $1=N$7.5). A total of 22,000 landless black Namibians have, during the first five years of independence, resettled on some of these 79 farms in accordance with the country’s First National Development Plan. To date, 34,000 landless black Namibians have been resettled. The government, through the Ministry of Lands, intends to acquire 360,000 more hectares of land in the next five years on which over 1,000 Blacks will be resettled.
Criteria for resettlement
The criteria used by the Lands Ministry hinges on three categories. The first consists of Bushmen and any landless former disadvantaged Namibians. The second category consists of landless livestock owners. The third group comprises people with income but who do not own land.
People who are resettled, hold the land under leasehold titles of 99 years. But Namibia’s resettlement programme is basically aimed at improving living standards of the previously disadvantaged people. Therefore, the scheme is not restricted to the provision of land for agrarian purposes. It has a broader social agenda, including provision of training facilities and housing.
Besides the «willing-seller willing-buyer» programme, the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act of 1995 also empowers the Minister of Land to expropriate privately owned farms. Should this be done, owners of such farms may not be able to negotiate their sale by mutual agreement.
The 1995 Act, however, states that the minister’s power to expropriate land is subject to the payment of compensation. So far the SWAPO government has not exercised the power of expropriation under the provisions of the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act of 1995.
It has won plaudits for this especially, in Western capitals. But the Nujoma government, which says it has to spend N$ 20 million annually to purchase farms for the resettlement programme, seems to be financially over-stretched. So the government has for the first time been forced to seek donor assistance, and in October 2000 sent Prime Minister Geingob to Germany and Austria with the same message.
After his trip, Geingob told the Media that Germany and Austria said they didn’t have money for land reform in Namibia. Instead, they suggested that Namibia approach the European Union (EU) instead of individual countries. «The EU is the key,» Geingob said. «We are going to them with a blueprint during the early part of 2001.»
Namibia’s needs
A document which Geingob tabled during his meetings in Europe shows that Namibia will need around N$ 900 million for its land reform over the next five years. Of this, about N$ 96.7 million will be used to survey, demarcate and buy 72,000 hectares of commercial farmland. A further N$ 49.2 million will be intended for infrastructural development for resettling 36 family units in commercial areas, while N$ 370,726 will be needed for infrastructural development in communal areas for small-scale farming units.
Financial requirements for surveying and mapping will amount to N$ 22.6 million, and N$ 7.5 million will be used for land use planning and allocation.
Germany, which is Namibia’s largest donor country, now says is willing to help in Namibia’s land reform. Social Democratic Party Member of Parliament Joachim Tappe, who chairs the Bundestag’s German-East Africa Parliamentary Group, has been quoted as acknowledging that «the necessity of land reform is not in dispute but the method is. I hope Namibia does not follow Zimbabwe’s bad example».
Indeed, because Zimbabwe’s «bad example«is not on the cards, Namibia’s land reform exercise is likely to be supported by Western donors.
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