Delays in resettlement programme criticised

Politicians have criticised the government’s land resettlement programme for delays which have left many farms unallocated to beneficiaries.

A report has shown that many farms acquired through the government’s resettlement programme have been unallocated for over five years due to a lack of monitoring and evaluation of the resettlement process.

This follows a report compiled by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, the Environment and Natural Resources showing that since 1990, the programme has resettled over 5 000.

The programme acquired a total of 590 farms at an overall cost of N$2,5 billion with a collective size of 3,5 million hectare.
The report says the challenges highlighted by the ministry include the mismatch of the policy and criteria for the allocation of acquired land and poor agricultural productivity on allocated land.

Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani says it is a demonstration that agriculture in Namibia is failing.

“We have developed a synthesis that the ruling party has failed agriculture in this country, where you have farms that are idle for five years without being occupied,” he says.

He says internal corruption is rife in the ministry, which permeates nepotism and cronyism, at the allocation of land.

Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters deputy leader Longinus Iipumbu says this shows the lack of politics.

“The government is not committed to the generational task of fulfilling the aspirations of the liberation struggle and that is to ensure economic independence,” says Iipumbu.

“There is a sad fear in the people leading these ministries that taking land from those who acquired it through the force of the colonial project will upset the markets and create economic havoc,” he says.

Zambezi local farmers representative Dobson Kwala says it is disappointing to have a slow process in the land resettlement programme, given that land is a crisis in Namibia.

“In order to resettle farmers fully, the government needs to buy out available farms and the process is receiving more applicants,” he says.

Activist Nafimane Hamukoshi says the situation highlights the significant lack of accountability and transparency within the resettlement programme administration.

“The failure to allocate farms not only undermines the initiative’s objectives but also casts doubt on the government’s commitment to supporting the intended beneficiaries of the programme,” she says.

Independent presidential candidate Ally Angula says the entire resettlement process is flawed.

“I think we need to revisit the whole concept of the resettlement farms. What has happened now is that resettlement farms are going to those people that are connected. They are going to ministers, former ministers and to people that they know,” she says.