Govt drags feet on land conference resolutions
133 resolutions still in pipeline
Government has been accused of 'name-dropping' the genocide and its related issues without sincerity to gain popularity for the upcoming elections.
To date, government has only fully implemented 25 of the 176 resolutions made at the second land conference - which took place almost five years ago in 2018.
This was revealed by Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila when she motivated her proposed budget of N$394 million for the operations of her office for the 2022/23 financial year.
“The High-Level Committee on the Second Land Conference met quarterly to review implementation of the second land conference resolutions. To date, of the 176 resolutions, 25 resolutions are fully implemented, [while] 133 are ongoing. The rest were in existence by the conference time,” she said.
No sincerity
To this, chief Petrus Simon Kooper of the Nama Traditional Leadership Authority (NTLA) said it is very clear that government is deliberately dragging its feet on implementing resolutions which would improve the lives of Ovaherero and Nama people displaced during the genocide.
He argued that government is simply ‘name-dropping’ the genocide and issues relating to it to gain popularity for the upcoming elections in 2024.
“It is already four years and they are just delaying and delaying the implementation of these resolutions. This brings a very big question mark over their sincerity as government, because we can already not trust this government; they don’t deliver on their promises.
“They must begin to realise that this country does not belong to only one group of people and that the Nama and Ovaherero were the most hurt and affected,” he said.
Issues of land ownership, compounded by factors such as ancestral land rights and restitution, the willing buyer-willing seller model, the expropriation of agricultural (commercial) land in the public's interest and the national land reform programme were among the discussions at the 2018 event.
Other issues of prime importance included the removal of the veterinary cordon fence and urban land reform and resettlement.
[email protected]
This was revealed by Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila when she motivated her proposed budget of N$394 million for the operations of her office for the 2022/23 financial year.
“The High-Level Committee on the Second Land Conference met quarterly to review implementation of the second land conference resolutions. To date, of the 176 resolutions, 25 resolutions are fully implemented, [while] 133 are ongoing. The rest were in existence by the conference time,” she said.
No sincerity
To this, chief Petrus Simon Kooper of the Nama Traditional Leadership Authority (NTLA) said it is very clear that government is deliberately dragging its feet on implementing resolutions which would improve the lives of Ovaherero and Nama people displaced during the genocide.
He argued that government is simply ‘name-dropping’ the genocide and issues relating to it to gain popularity for the upcoming elections in 2024.
“It is already four years and they are just delaying and delaying the implementation of these resolutions. This brings a very big question mark over their sincerity as government, because we can already not trust this government; they don’t deliver on their promises.
“They must begin to realise that this country does not belong to only one group of people and that the Nama and Ovaherero were the most hurt and affected,” he said.
Issues of land ownership, compounded by factors such as ancestral land rights and restitution, the willing buyer-willing seller model, the expropriation of agricultural (commercial) land in the public's interest and the national land reform programme were among the discussions at the 2018 event.
Other issues of prime importance included the removal of the veterinary cordon fence and urban land reform and resettlement.
[email protected]
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article