2018-07-12Staff Report 2 Kuzeeko Tjitemisa WINDHOEK – Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has set up a high-level coordination committee whose aim is to ensure inclusivity in preparation for the second national land conference. In a statement on Tuesday, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the high-level coordination committee consists of 32 members with experience or expertise that are relevant to the land conference. She said they are drawn from government, farmers unions, trade unions, academia, civil society, traditional authorities, churches, non-governmental organisations, conservancies, tertiary institutions, community leaders, youth organisations and political parties. The second national land conference is scheduled to take place during the first week of October under the Office of the PM. The main objective of the conference is to review the progress made towards the implementation of the 24 resolutions of the 1991 National Conference on Land Reform and the Land Question in Namibia. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said in order to ensure broader participation and inclusivity on the matter related to land reform and administration in Namibia and the land conference, the government will undertake regional consultation. She said the 32 members, divided into seven teams, will be visiting all major towns in the month of July. After the visits, Kuugongelwa- Amadhila said, the reports from regional consultations will serve as resource material to enhance deliberations at the land conference. “I would like to urge the nation to take the land conference as an important platform for progressive and objective discourse in order to find an amicable and viable solutions to the land question in our country,” she said. She encouraged all stakeholders to be part of the regional consultations to ensure they make inputs into regional reports. Earlier this week, New Era reported the Kai !Akhoen Hai//om San wants government to postpone the planned land conference until they get the assurance all the minority groups will be represented The group said San people are still scattered around the country and that government has failed to resettle them 28 years after independence. They were of the opinion that regional consultations for the land conference serve no purpose as they only focus on urban areas and completely exclude rural areas. 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 the historic inaugural land conference. 2018-07-12Staff Report 2
