German money can only afford 4 million hectares
OGONE TLHAGE AND JEMIMA BEUKES
WINDHOEK
The N$9 billion the German and Namibian governments have agreed to fund the acquisition of land as part of the genocide reparation pact will only be able to purchase 4.26 million hectares against Namibia’s envisaged 15-million-hectare target.
This amount forms part of the N$18.4 billion the German government is set to pay to descendants of the Nama/Ovaherero genocide which took place between 1904 and 1908, and is to be used to buy back land in areas where the affected communities lived.
Apart from the acquisition of farm land, the money will also be used for training purposes.
These 4.26 million hectares are based on the N$2 100, considered a premium price, government paid for farmland through its resettlement scheme.
It is the exact price government used to purchase a farm belonging to Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila last year, according to agriculture and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein when he commented on that specific purchase.
Other factors, such as fuel prices, inflation and property market fluctuations could affect the price at which land can be acquired with the German money.
Further broken down, the N$9 billion – if paid in portions over 30 years as per the broader settlement – equates to N$300 million annually.
Fair price
Valuator general Rudolf !Nanuseb said measures were already in place that would ensure government would not overpay for land.
“The measures are in place. [For] each property offered to government; Offices, Ministries and Agencies (OMAs), the valuator general does the valuation and advises government on the fair value. If there is any dispute, the private property owner has the right to approach a private valuator and seek a valuation,” !Nanuseb said.
Government in January said it had spent N$285 million since 2018 to acquire 26 farms, The Namibian reported.
Official government data published in 2018 found that of the eight million hectares of farm land offered to government, 37% of that land - or 2.96 million hectares - had actually been bought since 1992.
Further data at the time showed that white people still own almost 50% of the land, while the descendants of those disposed under colonial rule remain largely landless.
Land as a human rights issue
The genocide deal is set to be discussed in Parliament before it is ratified for signing.
Nama descendent Sima Luipert said infrastructure can be compensated but not land, and negotiations should look at land as a human rights issue and challenge the neo-capitalist mindset which development aid is promoting.
“It simply does not make sense to pay for land that was taken criminally. The land must be expropriated without compensation and returned to the people from whom it was taken. We need to understand the land question within the context of Nama governance structures. Land does not belong to individuals,” she said.
Mutjinde Katjiua, secretary-general of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA), said they reject this deal and have abandoned their lawsuit in New York and are now seeking assistance from the United Nations (UN).
“The Namibian Constitution still states that land should be bought at a just compensation so the random expropriation is not the official opposition of the OTA. If the affected communities are not included in the official negotiations, we will go to the UN and other avenues. But if that does not work, then we reserve our right to invade farms. “That is a very last resort. We will not rule out invading farms,” he said.
WINDHOEK
The N$9 billion the German and Namibian governments have agreed to fund the acquisition of land as part of the genocide reparation pact will only be able to purchase 4.26 million hectares against Namibia’s envisaged 15-million-hectare target.
This amount forms part of the N$18.4 billion the German government is set to pay to descendants of the Nama/Ovaherero genocide which took place between 1904 and 1908, and is to be used to buy back land in areas where the affected communities lived.
Apart from the acquisition of farm land, the money will also be used for training purposes.
These 4.26 million hectares are based on the N$2 100, considered a premium price, government paid for farmland through its resettlement scheme.
It is the exact price government used to purchase a farm belonging to Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila last year, according to agriculture and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein when he commented on that specific purchase.
Other factors, such as fuel prices, inflation and property market fluctuations could affect the price at which land can be acquired with the German money.
Further broken down, the N$9 billion – if paid in portions over 30 years as per the broader settlement – equates to N$300 million annually.
Fair price
Valuator general Rudolf !Nanuseb said measures were already in place that would ensure government would not overpay for land.
“The measures are in place. [For] each property offered to government; Offices, Ministries and Agencies (OMAs), the valuator general does the valuation and advises government on the fair value. If there is any dispute, the private property owner has the right to approach a private valuator and seek a valuation,” !Nanuseb said.
Government in January said it had spent N$285 million since 2018 to acquire 26 farms, The Namibian reported.
Official government data published in 2018 found that of the eight million hectares of farm land offered to government, 37% of that land - or 2.96 million hectares - had actually been bought since 1992.
Further data at the time showed that white people still own almost 50% of the land, while the descendants of those disposed under colonial rule remain largely landless.
Land as a human rights issue
The genocide deal is set to be discussed in Parliament before it is ratified for signing.
Nama descendent Sima Luipert said infrastructure can be compensated but not land, and negotiations should look at land as a human rights issue and challenge the neo-capitalist mindset which development aid is promoting.
“It simply does not make sense to pay for land that was taken criminally. The land must be expropriated without compensation and returned to the people from whom it was taken. We need to understand the land question within the context of Nama governance structures. Land does not belong to individuals,” she said.
Mutjinde Katjiua, secretary-general of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA), said they reject this deal and have abandoned their lawsuit in New York and are now seeking assistance from the United Nations (UN).
“The Namibian Constitution still states that land should be bought at a just compensation so the random expropriation is not the official opposition of the OTA. If the affected communities are not included in the official negotiations, we will go to the UN and other avenues. But if that does not work, then we reserve our right to invade farms. “That is a very last resort. We will not rule out invading farms,” he said.
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