White-owned land to be taken

In a strongly-worded speech, President Hage Geingob announced at the 27th independence celebration that the time for the expropriation of land has come.

“We are committed to addressing the land issue and this is why I have alluded to the fact that we need to revisit the willing-buyer, willing-seller concept which we adopted to adhere to Resolution 435.

“We have exhausted the concept because after 27 years, the process is slow in satisfying the wishes of the majority of Namibians. This means we need to refer back to our Constitution, which allows for the expropriation of land with fair compensation, and also look at foreign ownership of land, especially absentee land owners,” he said.

Thousands attended the event at Rundu Stadium and the mood was energetic, with people chanting “Harambee”, “One Namibia, One Nation” and “Hage Geingob” while waving the Namibian flag.

The presence of people from all walks of life did not go unnoticed, as Geingob thanked the crowd and the organisers of the event, saying that it was in line with the aims of the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP).

In his speech Geingob touched on many topics, in particular the challenges the country is facing and how the government intends to resolve them.

Geingob spoke of unity in Namibia, emphasising freedom of speech.

“You have exemplified the spirit of Harambee by pulling in the same direction, and in so doing, you have repelled those retrogressive forces whose intent was to propagate their reactionary tendencies by encouraging people not to celebrate independence,” he told the crowd.

Geingob questioned the motives of those who planned to boycott the independence celebrations, saying it was absurd for people to deny others the opportunity to take part in such an event.

“How can you boycott your own achievement? How can you boycott national reconciliation? How can you boycott the freedom of movement and the freedom of speech? How can you boycott the desire to maintain unity, national sovereignty and human dignity? Let the free people of Namibia celebrate their existence.”

Again, the president highlighted the peace enjoyed by the country and warned that there were some people intent on destroying it.

“I am aware there are some people in this country who are tired of peace and have made it no secret by questioning why we keep talking about peace. The truth cannot change. We must be wary of centrifugal forces who are intent on destroying what took us so many years and so much blood, sweat and tears to build,” he said.

Harambee, the president said, was not to be scoffed at or ridiculed but should be seen as a concept to unite the people and promote and safeguard the country’s sovereignty.

The crowd listened attentively and talking to Namibian Sun on the sidelines, people expressed gratitude at having been part of one of the most important days on the Namibian calendar.

“We see the efforts of the government but more should be done, not just for us but also for the future generations,” Namibian Sun was told.

Geingob stressed that in order for the country to achieve economic growth and maintain peace everyone should be open to new approaches.

Talking about poverty and the need to curb it, Geingob said if one Namibian is poor it affects everyone.

“Poverty is a scourge that continues to wreak havoc in our lives, because if one Namibian is poor, then we all are poor and we will all pay a price for that. We are aware that after 27 years we still face many uphill challenges, most specifically with regard to our socio economic architecture,” he said.

He said the problems and social imbalances in the country were not created by Swapo or the government of the day. Touching on the current economic challenges, he said: “in the midst of financial headwinds, austerity measures must be put in place.”

Harambee, the National Development Plan and Vision 2030’s strategic projects would be fast-tracked, he said.

KENYA KAMBOWE