‘Swartbooi did not lie’
President Hage Geingob’s demand for an apology by Bernadus Swartbooi has unleashed a flurry of responses from Namibians, save the deputy minister who is unreachable.
JEMIMA BEUKES
Deputy lands minister Bernadus Swartbooi has been completely off the radar after President Hage Geingob demanded that he apologise within 24 hours for saying that his minister, Utoni Nujoma, must be called to order for the manner in which he is handling the land resettlement process.
Numerous attempts to get hold of the outspoken Swartbooi yesterday failed as his phone was unreachable.
Swartbooi lashed out at Hoachanas over the weekend and demanded that Nujoma be ‘called to order’.
Meanwhile reactions are streaming in following the president’s demand for an official apology.
The chief of the Kai //Khaun clan at Hoachanas, Chief Simon Kooper, yesterday said Swartbooi could not apologise for speaking the truth.
The outspoken Kooper also took issue with what he termed a “perception that only Aawambo people fought for the liberation of the country”.
“We have kept quiet for a long time and just because we are part of Swapo does not mean we should remain quiet. The Namas also fought for this country. We contributed the same as those who went into exile,” he fumed.
Kooper added that his people were elated when Swartbooi, a senior government official, spoke the “truth”.
Meanwhile, Nama Genocide Technical Committee chairperson Ida Hoffmann says Geingob should have summoned both Swartbooi and Nujoma for a private meeting and then determined whether there is a need for an apology.
“What does this mean now? Does this mean if no apology is issued Swartbooi is fired? I would see this as a very big injustice against Swartbooi,” she said.
She further accused political leaders of ignoring the plight of Namibian minorities, but being constantly on the look-out for discrimination against other tribes.
“When we, especially the Nama people, speak about the wrongs done against us, then we are labelled tribalists, but when we are mistreated then our political leaders are quiet,” said Hoffmann.
Resettlement
Meanwhile, Nangof’s working group on land reform has called on the government to immediately suspend the entire resettlement programme until the second national land conference has taken place.
According to Uhuru Dempers, convener of the working group, the land resettlement programme is generally perceived as corrupt, discriminatory and biased towards the powerful and elite at the expense of the landless, the poor and the indigenous communities who directly lost land during the colonial period.
These recommendations came after a range of consultative meetings were held with communities from villages in the Hardap, //Karas and Omaheke regions.
The communities argued that the resettlement programme was creating pools of apartheid-like reserves that are overcrowded, overgrazed and lack the basic infrastructure required for productive agriculture.
They also lamented that the programme is not pro-poor and does not address poverty as stated in the national development agendas.
The communities also complained that residents of settlements such as !Gochas, Aranos, Hoachanas, Stampriet, Kries, /Koës and Aroab have little or no access to communal land and are squeezed into the settlements by farms of absentee landlords and underutilised farms, while other farms are bought by tourism operators.
“It is felt that government has done little to nothing to lift these communities out of poverty and landlessness, but has rather resettled people from other regions on the farms that are bought around these settlements, while ignoring the local landless people.
“Government is allocating land to people who have no historical or cultural connection to the land, nor do they have any knowledge of the natural environment and habitat. This is done at the expense of those who have a direct connectedness with the land, leaving them destitute, landless and culturally poor,” the group said.
Deputy lands minister Bernadus Swartbooi has been completely off the radar after President Hage Geingob demanded that he apologise within 24 hours for saying that his minister, Utoni Nujoma, must be called to order for the manner in which he is handling the land resettlement process.
Numerous attempts to get hold of the outspoken Swartbooi yesterday failed as his phone was unreachable.
Swartbooi lashed out at Hoachanas over the weekend and demanded that Nujoma be ‘called to order’.
Meanwhile reactions are streaming in following the president’s demand for an official apology.
The chief of the Kai //Khaun clan at Hoachanas, Chief Simon Kooper, yesterday said Swartbooi could not apologise for speaking the truth.
The outspoken Kooper also took issue with what he termed a “perception that only Aawambo people fought for the liberation of the country”.
“We have kept quiet for a long time and just because we are part of Swapo does not mean we should remain quiet. The Namas also fought for this country. We contributed the same as those who went into exile,” he fumed.
Kooper added that his people were elated when Swartbooi, a senior government official, spoke the “truth”.
Meanwhile, Nama Genocide Technical Committee chairperson Ida Hoffmann says Geingob should have summoned both Swartbooi and Nujoma for a private meeting and then determined whether there is a need for an apology.
“What does this mean now? Does this mean if no apology is issued Swartbooi is fired? I would see this as a very big injustice against Swartbooi,” she said.
She further accused political leaders of ignoring the plight of Namibian minorities, but being constantly on the look-out for discrimination against other tribes.
“When we, especially the Nama people, speak about the wrongs done against us, then we are labelled tribalists, but when we are mistreated then our political leaders are quiet,” said Hoffmann.
Resettlement
Meanwhile, Nangof’s working group on land reform has called on the government to immediately suspend the entire resettlement programme until the second national land conference has taken place.
According to Uhuru Dempers, convener of the working group, the land resettlement programme is generally perceived as corrupt, discriminatory and biased towards the powerful and elite at the expense of the landless, the poor and the indigenous communities who directly lost land during the colonial period.
These recommendations came after a range of consultative meetings were held with communities from villages in the Hardap, //Karas and Omaheke regions.
The communities argued that the resettlement programme was creating pools of apartheid-like reserves that are overcrowded, overgrazed and lack the basic infrastructure required for productive agriculture.
They also lamented that the programme is not pro-poor and does not address poverty as stated in the national development agendas.
The communities also complained that residents of settlements such as !Gochas, Aranos, Hoachanas, Stampriet, Kries, /Koës and Aroab have little or no access to communal land and are squeezed into the settlements by farms of absentee landlords and underutilised farms, while other farms are bought by tourism operators.
“It is felt that government has done little to nothing to lift these communities out of poverty and landlessness, but has rather resettled people from other regions on the farms that are bought around these settlements, while ignoring the local landless people.
“Government is allocating land to people who have no historical or cultural connection to the land, nor do they have any knowledge of the natural environment and habitat. This is done at the expense of those who have a direct connectedness with the land, leaving them destitute, landless and culturally poor,” the group said.
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