by Bayano Valy – SANF 04 no 98
On paper all Namibian parties agree on one issue: the country’s need to address the land reform process.
This seems to indicate that there is a strong likelihood that the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo), which is expected to win the 15 and 16 November general elections, will enjoy nationwide support to redress the country’s land-ownership issue.
Swapo has been in power since 1990 after it won the pre-independence elections held under the United Nations aegis after more than two decades of armed struggle against apartheid South Africa. Namibia became independent on 21 March 1990.
Swapo started addressing the legacy of over 100 years of occupation, first by Germany followed by South Africa, which is manifested by uneven distribution of farm land, in 1992 when it held a consultative conference on land attended by representatives of all Namibian communities.
It is in line with the resolutions adopted at the consultative conference that Swapo subsequently shaped its Land Reform policy passed in parliament. This has seen the acquisition of numerous derelict farms to resettle a number of communities.
In 1994, the government has also allocated N$20 million (at the current exchange rate, one US$ buys N$6.02) annually to acquire land to resettle the landless, a figure which has since grown to N$50 million per year.
This resulted in the buying of some 846,583 hectares on which 6,256 families were resettled. Swapo has promised to increase the number to over 6,436 families within the next five years.
Furthermore, Swapo also intends to increase from N$50 million to N$100 million per annum to acquire yet more land.
The opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) agrees that the land issue has to be addressed, and that “everybody is in favour”.
However, party spokesperson Johan de Waal added that, “there has to be a set of criteria for resettlement and land expropriation.”
He accused government of using an ad hoc criterion to expropriate land, with a result that commercial farmers are stopping farming, creating serious problems to the economy.
Because Namibia’s farms are located in semi-arid land and this requires know-how and financial capacity to explore, the DTA believes government should allocate resources for the education and training of resettled families, lest the farming land becomes unproductive in the long run.
In its manifesto, Swapo promises to do just that – to couple the resettlement programme with training and capacity building in order to promote sustainable land use.
For its part, the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) says it would “definitely support” any land reform policy that takes into account several key aspects.
These include the repossession of land owned by the absentee landlords, using legal mechanisms to repossess underdeveloped and under-utilised land, and buying 2,500-3,500 hectares of commercial farms which have been a problem in the past years because of the “willing seller and willing buyer” system.
NUDO feels that not so many farmers have been willing to sell, and thus there should be a fast-track programme geared at distribution and resettlement.
Arnold Tjihuiko, NUDO director of elections, said that his party recognises that the “land issue is very crucial and so it has to be tackled sooner than later.”
“Let us do it early while there is time to do this,” said Tjihuiko, adding that otherwise there could be potential for problems in the long run.
To offset any unproductiveness arising from resettlement of peasant farmers with lack of capacity or resources to farm, NUDO believes resettled peasant farmers should be assisted “to get access to training, credit and markets in order to maintain farm productivity.”
Even the Republican Party, which is mainly white-dominated with about 70 per cent of its executive white (although it claims to be broad-based) agrees land resettlement is important, and it is “definitely in favour of land reform.”
Perhaps, realising it has little chance of winning the election, the RP has been urging Swapo to “urgently come up with a final and sustainable land reform plan which will benefit all of Namibia’s inhabitants.”
They say such a plan should enshrine the very principle of “willing buyer, willing seller” which is contested by other parties because it has not been forthcoming in getting farmers to sell; it should not be applied as a punitive measure or a political football; and crucially landowners should have the right of appeal in a higher court when expropriation occurs and a dispute arises.
Namibians claim there are a lot of farms belonging to absentee landlords, and cases of farmers owing more than one farm up to 10, as well as under-utilised land that government should expropriate and resettle farmers in them.
Now what remains to be seen is whether after the noise and frenzy of the elections all the parties will still remain committed to addressing the land issue. (SARDC)
