WINDHOEK – The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) does not believe in arguing out differences in the public sphere and is not inclined to respond in newspapers point by point to the countless unfounded allegations made, let alone defend or justify government policies in the agricultural sector on the basis of a certain group of people calling themselves the Agronomist Activist Group 11’s questionable claims. “Not even a book would be sufficient to deal with that and we would do no justice to the readers.”
This was the strong reaction of agriculture ministry John Mutorwa, after his office had taken note of several letters to the editors published by various Namibian newspapers in which the “Agronomist Activist Group 11” criticises the MAWF on numerous issues in a rather unsubstantiated manner.
New Era is in possession of one such document titled “The Dismal Failure of the MAWF” for some time and has not published it in anticipation of Minister Mutorwa’s response that was received yesterday. The documents were published in various media.
“What may at first sight appear as the utterance of comprehensible concerns in these letters regularly turns out baseless allegations, possibly aimed at provoking MAWF to react. The MAWF therefore today wishes to inform both media houses and the readership of these letters that the ‘Agronomist Activist Group 11’ is not unknown to our ministry and consists of people who are disgruntled over MAWF’s decision some time ago, that they were not eligible to a ministry support programme,” the minister’s response reads.
He says this group of disgruntled people appears to have vowed to henceforth discredit if not badmouth MAWF, and writing letters to the editors of Namibian newspapers – which are often uncritically printed as they fall under “opinion” and are therefore correctly protected by the constitutional right of freedom of speech – seems to be their chosen tool in doing so.
“The MAWF not only has reasonable grounds to disagree with the views of this group from a professional point of view, but also wishes to highlight that the ministry has invited this Agronomist Activist Group 11 on several occasions to discuss their presumed concerns and allegations. Yet, the group has always refused this offer and instead opted to continue spreading their insinuations through letters to the newspapers.
“The MAWF however believes in constructive dialogue, fruitful discussion, teamwork and finding common ground to the benefit of our communities and nation at large. We therefore reiterate our ministry’s unconditional willingness to discuss with the Agronomist Activist Group 11 and discuss their apparent issues, claims and allegations.
“We are confident that all matters pertaining misunderstandings and misconceptions resulting in misleading information as disseminated through the group’s letters to newspaper editors can be resolved and that a joint approach as well as mutual understanding and respect are possible – and in the best interest of our farming communities, whom we serve,” Mutorwa said.
By Deon Schlechter