Ancestral land takes centre stage

The simmering issue of restitution for ancestral land dispossession, which had contentiously been left out of the controversial Land Bill that was shelved last year, will take centre stage at the upcoming second national land conference.

While addressing the “vexing, complex and emotive matter” of land, Geingob said during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the country's second land conference would take place in the first week of October and that ancestral land restitution would be discussed.

Also on the agenda would be the willing buyer, willing seller principle; expropriation in the public interest with just compensation, as provided for in the constitution; urban land reform and resettlement criteria; and the veterinary cordon fence.

Geingob's pronouncements around expropriation with compensation comes amid fears that Namibia would follow the Zimbabwean route, as well as a recent parliamentary motion in South Africa, which is expected to lead to expropriation without compensation in that country.

The president admitted yesterday that the willing buyer, willing seller principle adopted after independence had not produced the required results.

Geingob shelved the Land Bill in February 2017 amid growing tensions over the ancestral land issue, while saying more consultation was needed, and that the tabling of the bill would take place after the second national land conference, which was initially slated for September that year.

At the time, land reform minister Utoni Nujoma said there would be no entertainment of ancestral land claims, that those with such claims were “unpatriotic” and that a return to ancestral land was akin to going back to colonial and apartheid era Bantustans.

However, Nujoma sang a different tune at a consultative workshop in July last year, when he welcomed a debate on ancestral land, saying people were within their rights to call for restitution and that the government was obligated to look after the interests of all Namibians.

Despite the importance attached to redressing historical injustices with regard to access to agricultural land, the restitution of ancestral land rights has been ruled out in Namibia. The country's first land conference in 1991 passed a consensus resolution that ancestral land rights could not be restored in full.

This has also appeared to have been Swapo's position over the years.

The 1991 conference had effectively dodged the issue under the pretext that there were too many overlapping and counterclaims for ancestral land.

At the centre of unfolding pressure around ancestral land is the Landless People's Movement, led by former deputy lands minister Bernadus Swartbooi, who was fired by Geingob after a clash with Nujoma over land resettlement.

The land issue was one of the fundamental reasons why Namibians took up arms against colonialism and apartheid.

The dispossession of land by European settlers from Africans began in the 19th century with the coming of German colonists and traders as the area was incorporated as German South-West Africa. Apartheid South Africa followed this trend and upon independence in 1990, Namibia inherited a colonial division of land in which 3 500 farmers, who were almost entirely white, owned approximately 50% of the country's agricultural land.



'Number one enemy'

During his SONA yesterday, Geingob labelled corruption as the nation's “enemy number one” in the war against widespread poverty.

“As a matter of fact, corruption is enemy number one in our war against poverty. It diverts scarce resources intended for development. To fight corruption requires a robust governance architecture, underpinned by the principles of accountability and transparency.”

Geingob, however, added there was a “worrying and persisting perception mostly propagated by media that government is not doing enough to curb corruption, despite numerous cases where decisive action has been taken to demonstrate political will”.

“In 2017, 60 cases have been investigated and handed over to the prosecutor-general by the Anti-Corruption Commission, with recommendation to prosecute. Where there are flaws in institutional processes and systems, we have adopted additional mechanisms to identify loopholes and facilitate the reporting of irregularities.

“The media have an obligation to highlight what we are doing right and wrong on all fronts. It is in the interest of those who elected us to know what government is doing,” Geingob said.

He added that in line with the commitment “to reckon”, he further demonstrated resolve to address perceived and alleged corruption by requesting ministers to respond to accusations levelled against them, upon commencement of the 2018 executive year.

“This should not be understood to mean the concerned ministers are guilty of corrupt activity. The purpose of my intervention was to provide a platform to respond.

“Despite our public declaration of assets, my wife and I remain on the receiving end of similar allegations and scrutiny. I continue to respond to queries from the media and expect ministers to do the same.

“I am glad cabinet ministers have all responded and come to appreciate this platform to respond to allegations levelled against them.

“If we are to win the war against corruption we have a shared obligation to blow the whistle. In this regard members of the public are requested to report cases of corruption.

“The Whistle Blowers Protection and Witness Protection Acts were passed in September 2017 to strengthen our legal instruments. The implementation mechanism for this legislation is not yet operational.

“However, this should not deter the public from submitting reports of corruption to relevant authorities. Contrary to the widespread perception of corrupt officials, substantiated reports have not been forthcoming,” Geingob added.



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