Govt plans expropriating more farms

SWAPO says it will fast-track the expropriation of farms owned by absentee landlords once the High Court has made a ruling on the first cases, in which German citizens have taken Government to court.

The party’s congress heard on Tuesday that plans to expropriate 192 farms with a size of 1,2 million hectares belonging to absentee landlords were still on. The plan was one of the resolutions adopted at the last Swapo congress in 2002.However, the number of farms has been significantly reduced since then because many had changed hands in the meantime.There were also some inaccuracies in the list submitted to the previous congress, party members heard.In a report presented by outgoing Swapo Secretary General Dr Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, the congress was informed that the first phase involving 19 farms met legal challenges.”Six farms, namely Ongombo West, Marburg, Okorusu, Groot Ruigte, Wyoming and Kansas were successfully expropriated.Four cases are currently before the High Court awaiting judgement (Kuramakiti, Hohenstein, Paxton and Saratoga),” the report said.Government claims expropriation is done in public interest but the landowners claim it targets Germans exclusively.”The court pronouncements on these cases would be of importance in determining the way of carrying out the process,” Tjiriange told the congress.He said the expropriation process had been broken down into manageable components, consisting of blocks of targeted farms in each region.”The process would be speeded up immediately after analysis of the outcome of the court cases,” the congress heard.It is the first time that commercial farm owners have taken legal steps against the expropriation of their land since Government embarked on the exercise two years ago.The plan was one of the resolutions adopted at the last Swapo congress in 2002.However, the number of farms has been significantly reduced since then because many had changed hands in the meantime.There were also some inaccuracies in the list submitted to the previous congress, party members heard. In a report presented by outgoing Swapo Secretary General Dr Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, the congress was informed that the first phase involving 19 farms met legal challenges.”Six farms, namely Ongombo West, Marburg, Okorusu, Groot Ruigte, Wyoming and Kansas were successfully expropriated.Four cases are currently before the High Court awaiting judgement (Kuramakiti, Hohenstein, Paxton and Saratoga),” the report said.Government claims expropriation is done in public interest but the landowners claim it targets Germans exclusively.”The court pronouncements on these cases would be of importance in determining the way of carrying out the process,” Tjiriange told the congress.He said the expropriation process had been broken down into manageable components, consisting of blocks of targeted farms in each region.”The process would be speeded up immediately after analysis of the outcome of the court cases,” the congress heard.It is the first time that commercial farm owners have taken legal steps against the expropriation of their land since Government embarked on the exercise two years ago.