No free land left in Namibia, Geingob told

MATHIAS HAUFIKU and OGONE TLHAGE

There is currently no free land in Namibia because all of it is committed and the only way alternative land could become available is through re-classification of land use, the commission of inquiry into claims of ancestral land has found.

The 15-man presidential panel, tasked with investigating ancestral land, has called on the government to embark on policy and legislative changes to effectively address the ancestral land question.

The 797-page report, compiled by a multidisciplinary advisory team appointed by President Hage Geingob in 2018, was leaked last week. Moments after it was leaked prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila issued a public notice stating that the report was available on the OPM website.

The commission was appointed at the height of the ancestral land debate that sparked heated debates among communities that the government is doing little to address their concerns.

In fact, most of the affected communities feel that the current land reform regime favours the rich, the powerful and the politically connected.

Statistics

The commission also received official statistics on the current division of land in Namibia according to functional and potential use as well as tenure systems,

“The Commission arrived at the finding that all land in the country, it would appear, is committed such that based on current legislation and data on land use patterns, there seems to be little existing alternative land in communal and commercial areas,” the report states.

The commission found that the communities that occupied the central and southern parts of the country, particularly the San, Damara (?Nukhoen), Nama, and OvaHerero, were most affected by colonial land dispossession and lost most (if not all) of their ancestral lands.

“While the issue of ancestral land claims remains complex, restitution in full may not be possible as observed by the same conference, there is strong evidence to warrant setting up formal legal and administrative processes,” the commission recommended.

Restitution

According to the Commission, there is need for enacting legislation to provide for ancestral land claims, including a body to assist claimants to formulate their claims, and a body to adjudicate claims of ancestral land rights to deal with the issue.

This, the Commission said, is to address the injustices and indignity caused to many indigenous Namibians by colonial and apartheid rule.

As the Commission traversed the country to consult and obtain input from the affected communities, they were presented with “rich narratives” regarding how the different communities’ ancestral land rights were infringed upon and lost, during both the pre-colonial and colonial period.

“The Commission also received testimonies of land right losses in the post-colonial era mainly due to proclamations of urban towns and villages, national parks and other developmental projects,” the commission indicated in its report.

The Commission also found that some these communities remain socially marginalised and economically excluded even on resettlement farms that were acquired specifically for them.

“San communities which benefited from group resettlement schemes, as evidenced by oral testimonies and the claims in the testimonies, have become victims of powerful individuals in the areas who encroach onto the farms allocated to the San,” the commission found.

History

One of the findings in the report is also that both German colonial and apartheid South African regimes, after dispossessing the indigenous majority of land, consciously adopted policies and programmes to consolidate white settlement and create an agriculture-based industry.

The Commission was also tasked to investigate the size of ancestral land lost and the boundaries.

“The Commission posits that for the pre-colonial era, it is not possible to determine the exact sizes and boundaries of ancestral land between the various communities, although there is historical evidence that general boundaries and jurisdictions were in existence,” the report notes.

Land ownership statistics, according to the report, are still skewed in favour of previously advantaged persons despite government spending billions since independence to buy land on which it resettled previously disadvantaged persons.

As at 2018, for example, 70% (27 863 813 hectares) of private freehold agricultural (commercial) land remains in the hands of the previously advantaged persons with previously disadvantaged persons owning only 16% (6,373,441 hectares) of private freehold agricultural (commercial) land.

“Although the government adopted a well-intended land reform programme, this, however, lacks a robust environment to nurture and support it (professionally and financially) to propel historically disadvantaged Namibians to become agriculturally successful and to improve food security,” the commission found.

The Commission also indicated that there are perceptions that the current national resettlement policy and land reform programmes are insensitive to the needs of the landless in general, and those dispossessed of their ancestral land in particular.

Key recommendations:

Re-classify land use

Adopt a robust land reform programme

Setup formal legal and administrative processes

Entity to adjudicate claims of ancestral land rights

Legislation to provide for ancestral land claims

Adopt adequate post-settlement support mechanisms.