Justice Minister, De Waal at loggerheads

A WAR of words erupted in Parliament yesterday between Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula- Ithana and opposition MP Johan de Waal of the DTA.

During debate on a motion on land reform, Minister Iivula- Ithana said during her stint as Lands Minster some years ago she got to ‘read the minds’ of previouslyadvantaged Namibians, who – according to her – just pay lip service to Government’s land reform but otherwise have hidden agendas. They achieved high prices selling their farms by engaging property agents who would quote different prices to prospective buyers depending on whether they were well-known previously disadvantaged Namibians or lesser known, she claimed. The agents would earn high commissions by bloating the original price of farms, she said. ‘A friend of mine had a farm costing N$3,7 million offered by an agent for N$5,7 million, the increase being the commission. Some of our previously advantaged compatriots are not honest,’ she said. De Waal asked the Minister what she was trying to tell the House. ‘What did you do as Lands Minister? You took away a 5 000-hectare farm from one (white owner) and the Prime Mister tells us there is a family owning 70 000 hectares. What has this Government done? You don’t have a policy, man!’ De Waal exploded. He immediately apologised for ‘any harsh words’, but said the message of his words should beclear. Iivula-Ithana then reminded the House of a case where four foreign land owners, who had their farms expropriated, went to court and won. ‘Where was De Waal and what did he say?’ she taunted the DTA leader. De Waal did not hold back. ‘I did not say anything then as it is sometimes better to be silent since words can hurt. I will say now fire the Lands Minster, fire the Attorney General (who is legal advisor to Government) and fire the attorneys who knew Government could notwin the case but they pocketed fees for the court case,’ he said. Iivula-Ithana was Attorney General at that time. She went on to say that the resolutions of the 1991 national land conference should be reviewed and that she even brought the LandReform Act to the House. ‘Did you implement it?’ Arnold Tjihuiko of Nudo interjected. ‘I might lose my temper,’ Iivula- Ithana quipped. She then said that Zimbabwe implemented its land reform and ‘the people of Zimbabwe are welloff today’. This caused rumblings from the opposition benches. ‘For this ‘crime’ (land reform) the EU and USA imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe,’ the Minister added, but she did not mention that the sanctions were imposed against certain Zimbabwean government officials and not the whole country. The debate continues.brigitte@namibian.com.na