Namibia may soon take land by force - report

farmland

The Namibian government has announced that it is in talks with the attorney general over the introduction of harsh laws on the expropriation of land after the "willing buyer, willing seller" policy proved "ineffective".


The Namibian reported that Land Reform Minister Utoni Nujoma had said he was holding ongoing meetings with the attorney general regarding the issue.

The announcement followed concerns raised by farmers over outdated legislation that does little to benefit them.

Statistics released by Farmer's Weekly showed that, as of last year, only 27% of the total agricultural land in Namibia had been successfully redistributed to those who were previously disadvantaged; 43% of the total agricultural land had been allocated for redistribution and another 16%, or 5.6 million hectares, had yet to be successfully redistributed.

Speaking during a meeting of the Namibia National Farmer's Union and President Hage Geingob, Nujoma disclosed that the government was considering amending the Communal Land Reform Act of 2000 and the Commercial Land Reform Act of 2005.

Geingob urged farmers to work with the government to address issues affecting them.