By Frederick Philander
WINDHOEK
A strong and passionate call was made on Thursday evening to the government for another land conference as part of efforts to honour the sacrifices made by the fallen heroes of the Namibian liberation struggle.
This appeal came from veteran Robben Island prisoner and retired politician, Gerson Veii, at the launch of an insightful and educational history book, Triumph of Courage, by Namibian author Matthew Gowaseb.
Some 200 invited guests attended the launch of Gowaseb’s third historic book.
Among those present were the Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, retired politician Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and former judge president, Brian O’Linn who also paid tribute to the country’s fallen heroes.
“The beloved fallen heroes and heroines are fittingly remembered in this historic book. They sacrificed their precious lives for the land so that their descendants, we, should live in harmony on the land. I think we are betraying the trust they placed in us. That is why I am humbly asking the government to call another land conference as a matter of urgency because we cannot solve poverty without land,” Veii, who is also honoured in the book as The Lone Voice, said.
The last formal government land conference was held in the early 90s.
“I was arrested because I said the redder the blood, the sweeter the freedom then. The blood was indeed redder and we attained our independence. But where is the sweet freedom? The struggle was mainly about land, but where is the land today? The whites, a small minority, owns most of the land, while those who were robbed of their land remain landless, in persistent poverty and in starvation. The majority of the people are living in poverty because they do not have land,” Veii claimed.
With obvious reference to the architects of the Namibian constitution, Veii charged that the country’s founding fathers and mothers guaranteed private ownership of land, but they also guaranteed personal poverty.
“The government’s resettlement policy is a farce because it does not address the real problem of landlessness. Farms are being allocated to those who can afford to buy them, people such as top government officials, while the landless and the poor are left out. It has developed into a situation where the well-off or the haves are favoured above the poor and the have-nots,” he said.
The veteran former SWANU politician also warned the government not to exclusively focus on the development of the country’s infrastructure without developing its human resources.
“What is the use and need of developing super roads and five-star hotels if the majority of the population walk barefoot and can hardly afford a decent daily meal? Let us develop these two important sectors together,” he urged.
Veii also called on the government to fearlessly introduce social grants to help resolve the poverty problem in the country.
“Our government must not be ashamed to introduce social grants and benefits such as pensions and unemployment grants to the benefit of the population. These grants are not representing the introduction of socialism, no. It is aimed at preventing poverty and hunger among our people. Many other countries have such social grant systems in place as ways to solve hunger and poverty,” Veii concluded.