Walvis Bay/Oshakati
President Hage Geingob yesterday said his predecessors, former presidents Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba, carried out their respective mandates honourably and cannot be blamed for the current land situation in the country.
The president credited Nujoma for peace and freedom and Pohamba for maintaining stability, priorities, he said, that were dictated by the demands of their time in office.
The all-out war on poverty is a necessary intervention at this point in time – a weighty responsibility that President Geingob is prepared to shoulder.
“President Sam Nujoma brought peace and freedom, President Pohamba brought stability, and my responsibility is to bring prosperity,” he remarked in Oshakati yesterday, where he had flown to assess the availability of land for residential purposes.
“Hage declared war against poverty. Many people have no proper housing. Now we have to find a solution,” he said.
Geingob flew to Walvis Bay early Tuesday morning, before jetting off to Oshakati. At both towns, he met municipal and other officials, who briefed him about available land in their respective localities.
On Monday, the president met with officials from the City of Windhoek – for the same purpose – and personally visited areas such as Goreangab in Katutura to get a clearer sense of how much land is potentially available for servicing.
Geingob’s visits come shortly after he reached a seminal agreement with leaders of the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement last week to address the land crisis in the country.
As a result of that meeting the AR leaders also aborted their plans to mobilise the masses to illegally occupy land countrywide this Friday. One of the resolutions of the meeting, and arguably the most significant of all seven, was that government would service 200,000 residential erven across the country.
Upon touching down in Walvis Bay yesterday, the president was whisked to a municipal area in Narraville where the municipality is currently servicing land.
Geingob said he was not trying to please anyone by facilitating affordable land to landless Namibians, but that such intervention is genuinely necessary.
“I am not pleasing anyone. I’m trying to make provision for people’s basic needs, such as land, clothing and decent accommodation, as stated in the Swapo Party manifesto which was adopted by government,” he said.
A piece of land behind De Duine Secondary School was identified as being available for servicing as soon as possible.
Accompanied by the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sophia Shaningwa, Geingob also consulted with the Governor of the Erongo Region, Cleophas Mutjavikua, Walvis Bay Mayor Uilika Nambahu and CEO Muronga Haingura, as well as municipal town planner, Hilia Hitula.
Hitula said as many as 50,000 plots can be serviced in Walvis Bay if government relaxes some of the policies on urban property development.
Government will start by servicing erven in Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Oshakati on a pilot project basis. The period between July 29 and August 5 will be dedicated to a nationwide clearance of identified urban land.
In terms of the agreement between the government and AR Namibians are called upon to voluntarily assist in servicing identified urban land for future allocation.
Minister Shaningwa warned that the mass servicing of land might not be an overnight process, but said government was exploring all possibilities to speed up the delivery of land. She appealed to all local authorities to identify land as soon as possible so that willing Namibians can be mobilised to assist in servicing the land.
It was also pointed out to President Geingob that 10,000 plots are currently available for servicing at Walvis Bay, of which 350 are reserved for use by the municipality.
Oshakati has a total of 6,171 unserviced erven available. These are located at Ehenye (1,371), Ompumbu (1,800) and Onawa (3,000), measuring between 300 and 600 square metres, the president was told.