Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
Windhoek-Minister of Land Reform Utoni Nujoma has urged Namibians to be open and to listen to each other and, most importantly, to come out of the regional consultations on the Second National Land Conference with concrete resolutions to inform and direct the current land reform process.
Nujoma made the call on Monday during the launch of the first regional consultation ahead of the planned land conference that is scheduled for September 18 to 22. “As we start the discussion to the build up to the Second Land Conference, let us be mindful of the responsibility to provide and maintain a platform for open discourse on land matters,” he said.
He further said the consultations are meant to be inclusive and would be conducted in the language of choice that local people understand, so that no Namibian is left out of the discussions. “All inputs are important and none are small. We want everyone to participate and contribute to the agenda that has been set for today,” he stressed.
He said the land question is a political, social and economic issue that is about addressing dispossession, equity and promoting productive and sustainable livelihoods through implementing programmes aimed at poverty eradication.
Consequently, he said, after 27 years of implementing the 24 consensus resolutions on land that adopted at the National Conference on Land Reform and the Land Question in 1991, the ministry, as directed by the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP), found it important to again re-group, consult and accord all Namibians a platform to contribute to the future of the land reform process.
“We are asking the nation to be ready to re-assess, discuss and map the way forward in terms of our mandate,” he said. “This time we are also guided and make reference to our different experiences as Namibians on what has worked, what did not work, what is currently not working, what needs to be adjusted, fine-tuned or totally discarded in terms of our land policy and legal framework.”
He said participants at the consultations should ask questions and take note of how various programmes and projects have been implemented within the ministry.
The Land Reform Ministry will be facilitating regional consultations ahead of the Second National Land Conference at Windhoek in Khomas Region from July 10 -11; Hardap, Mariental from July 12-13; Swakopmund in Erongo Region from July 14-15; Keetmanshoop in //Kharas from July 12-13; and Gobabis in Omaheke from July 14-15.
Similar meetings will also be held at Rundu in Kavango East from July 17-18; Nkurenkuru, Kavango West from July 19-20; Otjiwarongo in Otjozondjupa from July 12-13; and Opuwo in Kunene from July 14-15.
Further consultations will be held at Omuthiya, Oshikoto from July 17-18; Outapi, Omusati from July 12-13; Ongwediva in Oshana from July 14-15; Eenhana in Ohangwena from July 17-18; and Katima Mulilo in Zambezi from July 20-21.