Plea Not To Follow Zimbabwe’s Example

I READ with concern an article on a Zimbabwean news website regarding utterances made by the Namibian Deputy Minister of Lands, Isak Katali, who is reported to have said: “the speed with which Zimbabweans took back their land from the white farmers is commendable and Namibia wants to do the same”.

He was in Zimbabwe to get tips on how they did it… He is also reported to have said: “We also feel that if Zimbabwe did this we can do it in the same manner.”Scepticism towards journalism has to be a part of every person who lives in Africa and reads the continent’s news, regardless of how it is presented, and by whom, and our Zimbabwean Herald is a classic example of “you only read what we want you to”.Did Katali really make those utterances? Could any thoughtful Namibian politician wish the tragedy of Zimbabwe on his fellow countrymen? Do the Namibian political elite really know what’s going on in Zimbabwe? If Mr Katali really did make those naive statements then he wasn’t shown the real Zimbabwe, and the suffering caused by the political madness that today rules our once prosperous Zimbabwean nation.We are a people in desperate crisis, in a land strangled by the policies of a repressive elite.They are governing Zimbabwe with political decisions, not economics, and unfortunately you cannot eat politics…And according to reports – if accurate – Mr Katali wants to help destroy Namibia, using the same disastrous policies that have reduced our nation to poverty, destroyed the land, and created another ruthless dictator.Is this what Namibians want, Mr Katali, or were you just humouring our president, perhaps intimidated by the “firepower” that protects him from “his” people.I would not be so presumptuous as to go into the history of land in Namibia, but I am aware that most of the arable land is in the hands of white commercial farmers, and that the majority of those farmers are Namibian citizens.How therefore do you justify booting citizens off farms that have been in their families for generations, or is Namibian justice only for black Namibians? Swapo waged war for independence and freedom from oppression.They shouldn’t become the new oppressors.Mr Katali, Namibia needs statesmen, not new candidates for the European Court of Justice in the Hague.The solution, Deputy Minister, is not to bulldoze your way to disaster, but to negotiate a way forward that does not put your superb nation into a Zimbabwean situation, and yet by negotiation achieves a more equitable distribution of Namibia’s arable land.Those who are chosen to be given land must utilise it not only for their own benefit, but for the nation as well.Zimbabwe is now swamped with “part-time” farmers, who because of their political ties were given farms that once helped feed our nation, and in most instances have gone back to bush.Is this part of your wish for Namibia, Mr Katali? Do you really want to destroy your nation with a mindless land policy that will have only one conclusion…disaster? Think again, Mr Katali, and don’t come back to Zimbabwe for any more “tips”, until such time as we have healed ourselves of the “rampant political disease” that has all but destroyed us.And some advice to the white Namibian farmers that call Namibia their home…negotiate.Find consensus amongst yourselves and sit down and try to hammer out a way forward.One where the aspirations of the majority can be accommodated without unnecessary recourse to law, injustice, or state-sponsored violence.The farmers of Zimbabwe discovered to their peril that the law meant to protect them just wasn’t there, and as I type this, some of the few remaining farmers in our south-eastern province of Chipinge are being driven off the land without recourse to law, and the threat of death hanging over their heads should they dare ignore the “barrel of the gun”.Remember the lesson of Zimbabwe, and the brutal fact that the majority of our Zimbabwean judiciary is part and parcel of our ruling party.In Africa, judgements handed down by the courts are ignored by those who control the guns.Our Zimbabwean president is on record as having stated that “power comes from the barrel of a gun”.With this in mind your attempts to obtain justice will only encourage the radicals in Swapo to remove those who would offer you justice, and install judges that deliver judgements based on party policy.Perhaps I’m wrong …I want to be, but time will tell, and at the present time there are no real success stories in Africa.South Africa is headed in the same disastrous direction, yet I see the potential for success in Namibia.Those of you on the land must bend with the wind, and put aside the emotional reasons for clinging to your heritage.You have to become politicians in your own right, and work for a reform programme that maintains the stability of your very special country.There has to be Namibian land reform, you must all be aware of that fact…help make it work, and keep Namibian agriculture viable with your efforts.By your acceptance of change, you will help make Namibia a success story, or help create yet another one of Africa’s failures.Long before the advent of Zimbabwe’s disastrous land reform programme, we often noticed stickers on the tailgates of farm bakkies that read “No Farmers…No Future”.Now, too late, we all realise just how important they were.White Non-Farmer, ZimbabweHe is also reported to have said: “We also feel that if Zimbabwe did this we can do it in the same manner.”Scepticism towards journalism has to be a part of every person who lives in Africa and reads the continent’s news, regardless of how it is presented, and by whom, and our Zimbabwean Herald is a classic example of “you only read what we want you to”.Did Katali really make those utterances? Could any thoughtful Namibian politician wish the tragedy of Zimbabwe on his fellow countrymen? Do the Namibian political elite really know what’s going on in Zimbabwe? If Mr Katali really did make those naive statements then he wasn’t shown the real Zimbabwe, and the suffering caused by the political madness that today rules our once prosperous Zimbabwean nation.We are a people in desperate crisis, in a land strangled by the policies of a repressive elite.They are governing Zimbabwe with political decisions, not economics, and unfortunately you cannot eat politics…And according to reports – if accurate – Mr Katali wants to help destroy Namibia, using the same disastrous policies that have reduced our nation to poverty, destroyed the land, and created another ruthless dictator.Is this what Namibians want, Mr Katali, or were you just humouring our president, perhaps intimidated by the “firepower” that protects him from “his” people.I would not be so presumptuous as to go into the history of land in Namibia, but I am aware that most of the arable land is in the hands of white commercial farmers, and that the majority of those farmers are Namibian citizens.How therefore do you justify booting citizens off farms that have been in their families for generations, or is Namibian justice only for black Namibians? Swapo waged war for independence and freedom from oppression.They shouldn’t become the new oppressors.Mr Katali, Namibia needs statesmen, not new candidates for the European Court of Justice in the Hague.The solution, Deputy Minister, is not to bulldoze your way to disaster, but to negotiate a way forward that does not put your superb nation into a Zimbabwean situation, and yet by negotiation achieves a more equitable distribution of Namibia’s arable land.Those who are chosen to be given land must utilise it not only for their own benefit, but for the nation as well.Zimbabwe is now swamped with “part-time” farmers, who because of their political ties were given farms that once helped feed our nation, and in most instances have gone back to bush.Is this part of your wish for Namibia, Mr Katali? Do you really want to destroy your nation with a mindless land policy that will have only one conclusion…disaster? Think again, Mr Katali, and don’t come back to Zimbabwe for any more “tips”, until such time as we have healed our
selves of the “rampant political disease” that has all but destroyed us.And some advice to the white Namibian farmers that call Namibia their home…negotiate.Find consensus amongst yourselves and sit down and try to hammer out a way forward.One where the aspirations of the majority can be accommodated without unnecessary recourse to law, injustice, or state-sponsored violence.The farmers of Zimbabwe discovered to their peril that the law meant to protect them just wasn’t there, and as I type this, some of the few remaining farmers in our south-eastern province of Chipinge are being driven off the land without recourse to law, and the threat of death hanging over their heads should they dare ignore the “barrel of the gun”.Remember the lesson of Zimbabwe, and the brutal fact that the majority of our Zimbabwean judiciary is part and parcel of our ruling party.In Africa, judgements handed down by the courts are ignored by those who control the guns.Our Zimbabwean president is on record as having stated that “power comes from the barrel of a gun”.With this in mind your attempts to obtain justice will only encourage the radicals in Swapo to remove those who would offer you justice, and install judges that deliver judgements based on party policy.Perhaps I’m wrong …I want to be, but time will tell, and at the present time there are no real success stories in Africa.South Africa is headed in the same disastrous direction, yet I see the potential for success in Namibia.Those of you on the land must bend with the wind, and put aside the emotional reasons for clinging to your heritage.You have to become politicians in your own right, and work for a reform programme that maintains the stability of your very special country.There has to be Namibian land reform, you must all be aware of that fact…help make it work, and keep Namibian agriculture viable with your efforts.By your acceptance of change, you will help make Namibia a success story, or help create yet another one of Africa’s failures.Long before the advent of Zimbabwe’s disastrous land reform programme, we often noticed stickers on the tailgates of farm bakkies that read “No Farmers…No Future”.Now, too late, we all realise just how important they were. White Non-Farmer, Zimbabwe