Landless not surprised by conference postponement

OGONE TLHAGE

The cancellation of the eagerly anticipated land conference did not come as a surprise to the Landless People’s Movement.

According to land activist Paul Thomas, who was speaking on behalf of LPM, the cancellation was expected.

“The postponement is not a surprise to us, we have been expecting this,” Thomas said.

According to him, it was an indication that the government was side-stepping the land question.

“This is clearly a demonstration that the government is not willing to address the land question.”

Thomas said the LPM would continue with plans to host its own land conference.

The resolutions adopted at the LPM conference, he said, would help the government to ensure equitable distribution of land.

“We are planning to host our own conference. We are going to draft our own resolutions. Through this we will produce a land manifesto which we will popularise among the people. This manifesto will guide government as a tool.”

Thomas added that the cancellation also put LPM in a better position to draft meaningful resolutions.

LPM will host its conference this week, from 7 to 8 September, Thomas said.

Civil society organisation Nangof welcomed the decision to cancel the planned land conference.

“We salute President Hage Geingob for taking time to engage with civil society organisations on this matter and for taking our concerns seriously. Our views were genuine and out of a desire to ensure an effective and successful second national land conference,” its director Uhuru Dempers said.

Nangof, Dempers said, was willing to support the government to ensure that a successful land conference could be held in future.

“We pledge to work with the government and other stakeholders to ensure an effective and successful land conference. We have made concrete recommendations to the government about the steps necessary to organise an outcomes-based conference and will support efforts by the government in this regard,” he said.

When he announced the postponement President Hage Geingob said more time was needed to study the land issue.

“Let’s take time to study it. We are talking about ancestral land. These are very complicated matters,” he was quoted as saying.

According to Geingob, the first land conference failed to address ancestral land claims.

“The first conference failed to address that. So why should we rush now? Some ministers are not happy, but I am deciding let’s give people more time. That’s why we are going to postpone it,” Geingob said.

No date has been set for the second land conference.