Land issue still a burning issue in Namibia

By: Eric Mhunduru

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has repeated what former presidents have said regarding the willing buyer, willing seller policy over land.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Nandi-Ndaitwah says she is uncomfortable with the policy.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said the willing buyer, willing seller policy guided early land reforms but has not worked effectively.

“We had to develop laws, and we started with the willing buyer willing seller that we realised it was not working and we went further after the land conference to introduce the land tax and also to focus on the absent land owners,” she said.

What Nandi-Ndaitwah said is the same as what late founding president Sam Nujoma said at the 2018 land conference.

Nujoma said the trend of land ownership should no longer be allowed to continue by the current generation.

“The trend of land ownership should no longer be allowed to continue by the current generation. We need Namibians to unite and work together and adopt a fair, comprehensive, and sustainable agreement in order to address the massive imbalances of land ownership,” said Nujoma.

Even former president Hifikepunye Pohamba told Al Jazeera that there could be a revolution over land.

In 2018, Pohamba blamed the inconsistencies in the Constitution for the land imbalances.

Despite all these concerns, the situation has not changed since 1991, with 70% of commercial land still owned by foreigners and absentee landlords.

It has also been documented that 16% of private agricultural land is owned by previously advantaged Namibians.

This translates to over 36 million hectares of total agricultural land just owned by over 4000 individual farmers.