Farms should not be seen as ‘status symbol’: Shangheta

A RULING party member of the National Council says that some Namibians believe that owning a farm is a status symbol.

“This should not be the case,” said Bartholomeus Shangheta, speaking during debate on the Appropriation Bill. The Otavi constituency Councillor said farms should be bought with the purpose of producing food and contributing to the economy.”Due to this misconception, you find a lot of default judgements against Agribank clients in newspapers,” said Shangheta.He called on the Ministry of Lands to work together with Agribank and come up with the best possible criteria for buying and selling land.Shangheta added that the policy of “willing seller, willing buyer” was not a good enough solution for land reform, as commercial farmers were raising the prices of their farms.”Willing sellers have the right to determine their prices according to their feelings and perception but I do not think this is right,” he told the House.Last month, Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said she was concerned about the number of farms being repossessed, as it had jeopardised land reform initiatives.She said Agribank should seriously review the loans and put monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure defaults were reduced.Just a day after that statement, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila told the National Assembly that Government had lifted its seven-month moratorium on standing guarantees for farms bought through Agribank’s Affirmative Action Loan Scheme.But stricter rules on the sale and purchase of commercial farmland were imposed to make the scheme more sustainable.One of these was that the Ministry of Lands would no longer issue waivers to commercial farmers who wanted to sell their farms to a buyer prepared to pay more than the land was valued at by Agribank and the Ministry, if there was an affirmative action buyer prepared to buy it at the lower price.Agribank will also no longer finance the purchase of any farm of which the selling price is above the agricultural value.Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the bank and the Ministry of Lands would now have to agree on the value of a farm, so that there would be no price differences between farms acquired under the resettlement programme and those under the AALS.This, she said, was not aimed at controlling farm prices but rather at ensuring that potential affirmative action buyers were not conned into paying more for a farm than its productive value.The Otavi constituency Councillor said farms should be bought with the purpose of producing food and contributing to the economy.”Due to this misconception, you find a lot of default judgements against Agribank clients in newspapers,” said Shangheta.He called on the Ministry of Lands to work together with Agribank and come up with the best possible criteria for buying and selling land.Shangheta added that the policy of “willing seller, willing buyer” was not a good enough solution for land reform, as commercial farmers were raising the prices of their farms.”Willing sellers have the right to determine their prices according to their feelings and perception but I do not think this is right,” he told the House. Last month, Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said she was concerned about the number of farms being repossessed, as it had jeopardised land reform initiatives.She said Agribank should seriously review the loans and put monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure defaults were reduced.Just a day after that statement, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila told the National Assembly that Government had lifted its seven-month moratorium on standing guarantees for farms bought through Agribank’s Affirmative Action Loan Scheme.But stricter rules on the sale and purchase of commercial farmland were imposed to make the scheme more sustainable.One of these was that the Ministry of Lands would no longer issue waivers to commercial farmers who wanted to sell their farms to a buyer prepared to pay more than the land was valued at by Agribank and the Ministry, if there was an affirmative action buyer prepared to buy it at the lower price.Agribank will also no longer finance the purchase of any farm of which the selling price is above the agricultural value.Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the bank and the Ministry of Lands would now have to agree on the value of a farm, so that there would be no price differences between farms acquired under the resettlement programme and those under the AALS.This, she said, was not aimed at controlling farm prices but rather at ensuring that potential affirmative action buyers were not conned into paying more for a farm than its productive value.