Allexer Namundjembo
Namibia hosted the second land conference in October 2018, which was projected to be the solution to the land problem in Namibia.
The land conference was viewed as the end of the land problem in Namibia, as it was hosted when everyone was in need of land.
Namibian citizens, especially the landless, had hope they would get land especially by learning the resolutions made, which gave false hopes to the people.
The conference made promising resolutions, such as the resolution to abolish the willing seller-willing buyer notion as the primary method of land acquisition, and agreed to implement the expropriation of land within the confines of the Namibian Constitution, which included with just compensation.
The resolution to abolish the willing buyer-willing seller programme was a perfect solution to the land problem, but the conference further made a resolution, “and agreed to implement the expropriation of land within the confines of the Namibian Constitution, which include with just compensation”, which shows the willing buyer-willing seller is still being considered.
Furthermore, the conference also resolved to develop national land valuation models to address high land prices, but land remains expensive, which gave me doubts whether the land conference was really hosted to find ways in which the government could address the land crisis in the country.
Land in Namibia remains expensive. Not only communual land, but also commercial land remains expensive and hard to find. Additionally, the conference resolved to expropriate foreign-owned agricultural land, and to also subject the under-utilised commercial farms owned by Namibians to expropriation.
The conference agreed to the principle of one Namibian-one farm, but it seems the resolutions will only be implemented in the distant future.
The conference resolved to develop strategies to ensure food security. In this context, government was requested to prioritise the development of a desalination plant to irrigate the land in the Namib Desert, and develop it for national food production, given erratic rainfall and risk of droughts.
On the resettlement programme, the conference resolved to review all policies related to this programme, and also to develop pre-and post-resettlement support programmes for the farmers.
Even though good-sounding resolutions were made, the burning issue of land continues to haunt the country, with some communities left with no place to graze livestock, cultivate crops and call their ancestral land.
The conference noted that there is need for common understanding on the issue of ancestral land rights and restitution.
“It is in this regard that the conference resolved that the government establishes a commission to investigate the matter, and make appropriate recommendations. The terms of reference for the commission will be developed.”
This gave false hope to some traditional authorities, especially those fighting for ancestral land that was taken away from them during the apartheid regime.
The conference also encouraged large communal farmers to be relocated to commercial areas, in order to free grazing for communal areas.
With regards to thematic area: Urban land reform and related matters, the conference developed a number of resolutions, which mandate government to develop appropriate policies and reform programmes, and also to disallow the ownership of urban land by foreigners. Did that happen? *Ndaindila Allexer Namundjembo is a student at Namibia University of Science and Technology, majoring in English and Linguistics. nanamundjembo@gmail.com