WINDHOEK – President Hage Geingob – who yesterday gave his maiden State of the Nation Address – has dismissed claims that government failed to address the land reform issue, but conceded that land reform did not happen at the speed which government would have wanted.
Geingob singled out legal and technical obstacles as some of the stumbling blocks, which slowed down the progress of addressing land reform and the provision of affordable housing to all Namibians.
“It is not true that government has not paid attention to urban and rural land reform.
What is perhaps true is the pace of land reform did not happen at the speed which we would have liked,” he told the nation.
He, however, admitted that land reform remains one of the areas of transformation that is critical towards social justice, inclusion and poverty alleviation in Namibia.
Urban and rural land non-availability and lack of decent shelter has seen a national outcry with many Namibians flocking to local authorities submitting their applications through the Affirmative Repositioning movement, led by suspended Swapo youth leader Job Amupanda. Of late, there have also been emerging cases of fishy land deals in which government top officials are involved in reportedly acquiring land through dubious means.
The President called for a need to initiate a national dialogue under the over-arching theme of wealth re-distribution, to be facilitated by the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation. He vowed to personally chair some of the sessions of the dialogue to ensure that the legitimate concerns of Namibians are not only heard but also translated into effective strategies and action.
In this regard, he commended the newly-appointed Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sophia Shaningwa for taking the lead in investigating Okahandja local authority councillors who are suspected to be abusing their positions of authority for their own benefit as opposed to the masses.
“These investigations are not to victimise the innocent or vilify the accused. This is meant to prove or disprove the persistent claims of corruption within institutions tasked with delivering land to the people,” Geingob stressed.
He also wants to see that the costs of serviced land are urgently reduced, saying an immediate measure is to cut the middlemen and, if need be, subsidise municipalities to directly service land.
He also said the criteria for land and poverty valuations must be re-assessed as it appears that the “science behind land valuations is imprecise and leading to anomalies in pricing”.
Other measures he mentioned will be to investigate the entire supply chain of building materials and costs.
Furthermore, he said where possible, the use of local materials should be promoted as much as possible together with more local manufacturing of building materials. “I would imagine that the concerns addressed would include issues such as expropriation of land owned by absentee landlords, the restriction of foreigners buying agricultural land, expropriation of urban agricultural land and the construction of dignified dwellings for farm workers,” he said.
Adding that, other issues include the previously disadvantaged Namibians who have become successful farmers, but still carry our farming activities, especially animal husbandry in communal areas. According to Geingob, these emerging farmers should graduate to become successful commercial farmers outside communal areas, as their larger herds of stock puts immense pressure on land in communal areas.
Geingob also touched on the importance of peace and stability, respect for the rule of law and good governance towards developing a nation.
Regarding corruption, he warned public officials to refrain from accepting any kickbacks, commission or any other benefit in execution of duty, saying it is unacceptable. He also cautioned the private sector that by paying a bribe, it perpetuates and entrenches the very common evil it laments.
“Corruption requires a corrupter and a corruptee. Businesspeople that pay bribes and the civil servants who solicit or receive bribes are engaged in an evil which undermines our development and weakness the fiber of our society,” he noted.