Whites should 'share' more land

2005-06-10 10:02

Windhoek - White Namibians who were previously advantaged should share some of their land and invest more in the local economy, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba said in parliament on Thursday.

Replying to questions from the oppositional Republican Party (RP) after his first state of the nation address since his election two months ago, Pohamba said the government had put money aside to buy land from white commercial farmers, but few had come forward so far.

"We want evolution, not a revolution", Pohamba said, "in order for us to avoid a revolution, let's talk on how to share land with our previously disadvantaged brothers and sisters."

"If you come and say here is a portion of my land I want to sell, the government has put money aside to buy it, but this has hardly happened," the president said.

The successor to founding president, Sam Nujoma, only briefly touched on land reform in his nearly two-hour long speech, concentrating mainly on development and infrastructural successes of the ruling South West Africa Peoples' Organisation (Swapo) government of the past 15 years since independence in 1990.

Government to continue land reform

"The government will continue to implement our land reform policy in line with the relevant laws and provisions contained in the 2004 Swapo election manifesto", Pohamba reiterated.

The manifesto stipulates that 192 foreign-owned farms are to be expropriated over the next five years.

"Towards attaining an equitable land reform, a Swapo government will consider expropriating the 192 farms belonging to foreign absentee landlords with the accumulative size of about 1.3 million hectares within the framework of the law," the manifesto said, which was published last October ahead of the national election campaign.

In his state of the nation address on Thursday, Pohamba said the government would seek to transform the Namibian economy from its "heavy reliance on the export of raw materials towards industrialisation and manufacturing" to diversify the economy.

Pohamba announced the establishment of an anti-corruption commission in due course. Legislation to that affect was passed two years ago.

- AFP