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Home / ‘Nujoma should be barred from land conference’
‘Nujoma should be barred from land conference’
2018-07-03Staff Report 2 Kuzeeko Tjitemisa WINDHOEK - Swanu Member of Parliament (MP) Usutuaije Maamberua has begged Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila to keep Minister of Land Reform Utoni Nujoma far from the upcoming land conference. The long-awaited second national land conference that was postponed last year is set to be held during the first week of October, under the auspices of the Office of the Prime Minister. Maamberua said in light of the status quo, which is characterised by tension, mistrust, suspicions, as well as doubts in Nujoma’s capacity to act in a fair manner, the very least course of action is for Nujoma to be recused from directing or organising the land conference. He said utterances by Nujoma, especially the one captured by CheckPoint, an investigative current affairs TV programme on the South African broadcaster eNCA, in which he is said to have questioned the ability of ‘a poor person’ to run ‘an expensive farm’ and many other recent media utterances has infuriated the general public. Maamberua said he is of the opinion that the land conference might descend into chaos due to the misgivings of the public about Nujoma. “If the minister is not recused or recusing himself, what measures would you put in place to ensure the preparations of the conference and the conference itself does not descend into chaos?” Maamberua asked Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. He also asked Kuugongelwa-Amadhila to convey the gravity of the matter to President Hage Geingob. Meanwhile, according to information obtained from the Ministry of Land Reform, the second land conference is expected to take stock of the achievements made since the first national land conference held in 1991, and to establish what is needed to accelerate and improve the implementation of recommendations made at that time. Apart from that, President Geingob also demanded that parliament enact enabling legislation for state-owned enterprises reform this year. “The line minister must be given the necessary support and power to execute his mandate, through the enactment of the enabling legislation,” Geingob said. He also called for the publication of the findings and recommendations contained in the 2017 Citizen Satisfaction Survey, conducted by the Office of the Prime Minister to measure service delivery standards. “I expect that improvement plans will be developed and implemented this year, without delay,” directed the president. 2018-07-03Staff Report 2
