NAU to spearhead forum on land reform

GOVERNMENT has given the green light to a move aimed at breathing new life into Namibia’s land reform process – the setting up of a Land Mediation Forum.

The National Agricultural Union (NAU) leadership, under its President Raimar von Hase, last week met Deputy Lands and Resettlement Minister Isak Katali, who encouraged the NAU to take the initiative in setting up the Land Mediation Forum. The Forum was recommended as an option by the Permanent Technical Committee (PTT), which compiled a comprehensive land reform report for Government, which was made public in the middle of last year.Proposed members of the Land Mediation Forum held a meeting last week, which was attended by representatives of the NAU, the Namibia National Farmers’ Union (NNFU) – which represents communal farmers, the commercial banking sector, the Ministry of Lands and the non-governmental organisations involved in financing land reform, in this case the German co-operation agency GTZ.”The meeting mainly reflected on the possible functions of the Forum as well as its compilation,” Von Hase said on Friday.”The meeting decided that the functions should mainly concentrate on advice to relevant organisations regarding policy directions, though there will also be room to look at certain technical aspects,” he said further in the weekly NAU newsletter.”The compilation of the Forum will thus be in such a way that it will be a high-level partner to Government and specifically the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement.”In addition, the Forum would inform itself on the functions of other organisations involved with land reform in order to prevent any overlapping.The Undersecretary of the Lands Ministry, Dr Nashilongo Shivute, saw the establishment of the Forum in a very positive light as an “advising body whereby civil society can be involved to contribute towards transparency of the land reform programme in Namibia”, Von Hase added.Another matter discussed at the meeting with Deputy Minister Katali was a model NAU developed for categorising commercial farms in terms of their suitability for resettlement purposes.The model could be a solution on which to base negotiations with land owners.At the same meeting, Katali expressed concern about loopholes in the Land Reform Act.He requested potential sellers and buyers of farms not to violate the spirit of the Act by using the loopholes.The Deputy Minister said the law would be amended to close these loopholes, including the formation of close.The Forum was recommended as an option by the Permanent Technical Committee (PTT), which compiled a comprehensive land reform report for Government, which was made public in the middle of last year.Proposed members of the Land Mediation Forum held a meeting last week, which was attended by representatives of the NAU, the Namibia National Farmers’ Union (NNFU) – which represents communal farmers, the commercial banking sector, the Ministry of Lands and the non-governmental organisations involved in financing land reform, in this case the German co-operation agency GTZ.”The meeting mainly reflected on the possible functions of the Forum as well as its compilation,” Von Hase said on Friday.”The meeting decided that the functions should mainly concentrate on advice to relevant organisations regarding policy directions, though there will also be room to look at certain technical aspects,” he said further in the weekly NAU newsletter.”The compilation of the Forum will thus be in such a way that it will be a high-level partner to Government and specifically the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement.”In addition, the Forum would inform itself on the functions of other organisations involved with land reform in order to prevent any overlapping.The Undersecretary of the Lands Ministry, Dr Nashilongo Shivute, saw the establishment of the Forum in a very positive light as an “advising body whereby civil society can be involved to contribute towards transparency of the land reform programme in Namibia”, Von Hase added.Another matter discussed at the meeting with Deputy Minister Katali was a model NAU developed for categorising commercial farms in terms of their suitability for resettlement purposes.The model could be a solution on which to base negotiations with land owners.At the same meeting, Katali expressed concern about loopholes in the Land Reform Act.He requested potential sellers and buyers of farms not to violate the spirit of the Act by using the loopholes.The Deputy Minister said the law would be amended to close these loopholes, including the formation of close.