If land is yours, take it back – Mnangagwa
There are no textbooks on how a nation can reclaim its lost land, said Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa during his visit to Namibia on Monday.
Zimbabwe has gained global notoriety for its radical land transformation process which, in 2000, saw hundreds of white farmers flee the country after their land was expropriated by the State.
Speaking to the media this week Mnangagwa said Namibia can study how Zimbabwe has done it and start there, but cautioned that there are no set guidelines on how it must be done.
“On the issue of land, there is no textbook - like with English, Mathematics or Geography [which] you can learn – on how to take your land. You take it and see how we have done it. That is what we did in Zimbabwe; we did not look for lessons elsewhere,” he said.
He emphasised that Zimbabwe's land policy was based on the “concrete” situation of the landless people of Zimbabwe.
“And we went to war to gain our land back from those that have taken it. And we took it back. Land is yours and if it is yours, you take it back,” he said.
The Namibian government, under all three administrations, has consistently followed the willing buyer, willing seller land policy, despite shortfalls and challenges along the way.
Government has to date only expropriated three farms totalling 15 184 hectares since independence, while foreign nationals still own 1.4 million hectares of farmland in Namibia.
The government paid N$4.9 million for the three expropriated farms in 2006 and the process went smoothly because the farmers agreed to the purchase price.
All three farms, Wyoming, Kansas and Groot Ruigte, are situated in the Omaheke Region.
Expropriation differs from willing buyer, willing seller because there is no bargaining for compensation.
However, this process came to a standstill in 2006 when farm owners challenged expropriation notices for five farms in the High Court.
In 2016 the land reform minister Utoni Nujoma said government had acquired 36 farms at a cost of more than N$290 million to resettle 57 families between April 2015 and February 2016.
JEMIMA BEUKES
Zimbabwe has gained global notoriety for its radical land transformation process which, in 2000, saw hundreds of white farmers flee the country after their land was expropriated by the State.
Speaking to the media this week Mnangagwa said Namibia can study how Zimbabwe has done it and start there, but cautioned that there are no set guidelines on how it must be done.
“On the issue of land, there is no textbook - like with English, Mathematics or Geography [which] you can learn – on how to take your land. You take it and see how we have done it. That is what we did in Zimbabwe; we did not look for lessons elsewhere,” he said.
He emphasised that Zimbabwe's land policy was based on the “concrete” situation of the landless people of Zimbabwe.
“And we went to war to gain our land back from those that have taken it. And we took it back. Land is yours and if it is yours, you take it back,” he said.
The Namibian government, under all three administrations, has consistently followed the willing buyer, willing seller land policy, despite shortfalls and challenges along the way.
Government has to date only expropriated three farms totalling 15 184 hectares since independence, while foreign nationals still own 1.4 million hectares of farmland in Namibia.
The government paid N$4.9 million for the three expropriated farms in 2006 and the process went smoothly because the farmers agreed to the purchase price.
All three farms, Wyoming, Kansas and Groot Ruigte, are situated in the Omaheke Region.
Expropriation differs from willing buyer, willing seller because there is no bargaining for compensation.
However, this process came to a standstill in 2006 when farm owners challenged expropriation notices for five farms in the High Court.
In 2016 the land reform minister Utoni Nujoma said government had acquired 36 farms at a cost of more than N$290 million to resettle 57 families between April 2015 and February 2016.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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