Parliament says no to tabling communal land bill last minute

Lawmakers have stood up against agriculture, water and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein after he tabled the communal land bill at “the last moment”.

Official opposition leader McHenry Venaani and Swapo backbencher Tjekero Tweya oppose Schlettwein’s tabling of the bill.

The bill includes the establishment of communal land boards and a development fund to prohibit the acquisition of commercial agricultural land by foreign nationals and to regulate the leasing of commercial agricultural land by foreign nationals.

Venaani was the first to object to the bill, questioning the minister’s intentions for tabling the bill at the eleventh hour.

“Why would you, minister, table this bill knowing the time this parliament has,” he said.

Tweya said such a bill cannot be tabled to check the boxes.

“If we could perhaps retreat a bit and take a principled decision and say the bill is here but to do justice to it and to respond to the outcry of the Namibian people that it should not just fall in the normal procedure and say for it to lapse,” he said.

Landless People’s Movement chief whip Utaara Mootu told The Namibian the bill has too many weaknesses for it to be tabled this week.

“He knew we did not have enough time but they wanted to rush this bill with the numbers they have now because next parliament they will not have it. This is last minute,” she adds.