Acknowledge ancestral land – Shixwameni

THE only way to address the land issue diligently is to acknowledge ancestral land, said All People’s Party president Ignatius Shixwameni.

Speaking to Nampa on Tuesday after President Hage Geingob opened the Fifth Session of the Sixth Parliament on the same day, Shixwameni said ancestral land cannot be ignored when allocating certain farms and deciding who benefits from land reform and resettlement programmes.

Opening parliament, Geingob said the land issue must be dealt with in diligence, sincerity and clarity to avoid igniting an explosion of chaos in the country.

The 2017 theme is ‘Parliament working towards the attainment of sustainable development goals’.

Shixwameni stated that the first national land conference made a historic mistake in 1991, which was to wipe out and not entertain all claims of ancestral land.

“History is there and documented. It has a list of who was there and who was evicted from their ancestral land, and how those lands were unproductive,” he added.

Also commenting on the issue, Swanu president Usutuaije Maamberua said the first thing investors will ask when they come to Namibia is whether the land issue has been resolved.

“As long as the answer is land in Namibia is still under dispute, then we can forget about investment, industrialisation, peace and harmony,” he stressed.

Maamberua added that government had 27 years to resolve the land issue. However, failure thereof has resulted in frustrations for the people, said Maamberua.

He noted that government is now branding people who are frustrated and those who are fairly and constitutionally demanding their resources troublemakers, unpatriotic and tribalists.

“But if we continue on that path, we are not going to see peace and stability in the country,” he stated.

– Nampa