Kicking Up Dust

I REFER to a recent front-page article about the expropriation of the farms Wyoming and Kansas in the Nina area.

The Ministry of Lands must be dumb or can’t read English or some dishonest person opens their mail. As far back as 2003 I have on various occasions offered my farms on a platter to the Minister.But every time my letter lands in the hands of a person who two/three weeks later arrives on my farm escorted by a horde of askaris to intimidate me about my properties without any word from the Ministry.You see, although I am the owner of the properties, a legal matter prevents me from making a direct offer to the Minister.All I need to bypass this problem is for the Ministry to show interest in my farms.But no, every time Mr Kilus Nguvauva messes up the whole matter, without realising that it is me, the owner, who started it all.In the meantime improvements have been ruined by neglect because I already left the farm two years ago.By the time I am able to sell the place, it will be useless for the purpose it was originally built.It will end up in the hands of some farmer who will build it up for cattle production, which was not the original function of these two properties.Here is the question I asked the Ministry of Lands so many times over the past four years: why doesn’t the Ministry of Lands ask those landowners who rent out their farms to sell to the State? It will be better for Namibia’s economy to buy rented (under-utilised) land than to take out productive farmers by expropriation.Believe me, neither the Ministry nor Mr Nguvauva will be able to link this letter to all those previously sent to the Ministry, but I’m sure we’ll see Kilus kicking up dust clouds in Omaheke again.Juan Putter Henties BayAs far back as 2003 I have on various occasions offered my farms on a platter to the Minister.But every time my letter lands in the hands of a person who two/three weeks later arrives on my farm escorted by a horde of askaris to intimidate me about my properties without any word from the Ministry.You see, although I am the owner of the properties, a legal matter prevents me from making a direct offer to the Minister.All I need to bypass this problem is for the Ministry to show interest in my farms.But no, every time Mr Kilus Nguvauva messes up the whole matter, without realising that it is me, the owner, who started it all.In the meantime improvements have been ruined by neglect because I already left the farm two years ago.By the time I am able to sell the place, it will be useless for the purpose it was originally built.It will end up in the hands of some farmer who will build it up for cattle production, which was not the original function of these two properties.Here is the question I asked the Ministry of Lands so many times over the past four years: why doesn’t the Ministry of Lands ask those landowners who rent out their farms to sell to the State? It will be better for Namibia’s economy to buy rented (under-utilised) land than to take out productive farmers by expropriation.Believe me, neither the Ministry nor Mr Nguvauva will be able to link this letter to all those previously sent to the Ministry, but I’m sure we’ll see Kilus kicking up dust clouds in Omaheke again.Juan Putter Henties Bay