OTJINENE - Nudo Secretary General Meundju Jahanika says 24 years down the line, the most valuable land still belongs to whites that own more than two farms while black Namibians still have no land to farm on. “The Nudo government will abolish all forms of foreign land ownership and institute a land lease system for foreign investors and companies to use land for sustainable economic activities,” he said, adding that if Nudo were to come to power it would allow those who have lost land to reclaim it. Jahanika was speaking at the last campaign rally for the party at Otjinene before the presidential and National Assembly elections on Friday. He said that a Nudo government would do away with the 20-hectares system and restore the powers of traditional leaders to run communal land with the assistance of the central goverment. “Twenty-four years later the land question has not been addressed and our land still does not yet belong to all who live on it,” said the secretary general of Nudo. Jahanika further blasted the government for what he termed a deteriorating education system which sends more than 20 000 youth to the “University of Unemployment,” instead of to the University of Namibia (Unam), the International University of Management (IUM) or the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN). He also criticised the quality of public health, saying that the health system has deteriorated to such an extent that hospitals have become “slaughtering institutions as every time you hear a story of patients left with equipment inside their stomachs after being operated on”. “Even those in government who run public health facilities are not taking their children, wives and themselves to public health facilities but take them to private health facilities instead,” he lashed out. He said Nudo would ensure there is a doctor for every 1 000 people, while social welfare grants would be improved to meet the basic needs of the elderly, from N$600 to N$1 200, and for the vulnerable from N$200 to N$800. “Twenty-four years later, corruption has become the order of the day and the current government is failing Namibian people by not releasing reports of a number of commissions of inquiry, especially the one on the GIPF in which the Namibian people were robbed of more than N$600 million of their pension money,” he said. When it comes to agriculture, he said, Nudo would create feedlots in all regions to assist with livestock rearing, and support rural communities to cope with drought conditions, while introducing a drought relief fund to assist farmers and rural communities immediately when droughts start. Jahanika said that government has failed to support the Ovaherero and Nama communities in their fight for reparations against the German government. He added that reparations would change the lives of the Ovaherero and Namas directly and all Namibians indirectly, as payment would be enough to eradicate poverty and assist government to balance its budget. By Magreth Nunuhe        
New Era Reporter
2014-11-25 08:33:48 | 5 years ago