Sankwasa aiming to tackle rural migration to ease urban land crisis

NEWLY appointed minister of urban and rural development James Sankwasa has identified urban and rural migration as a key challenge awaiting him, emphasising the need for rural development to ease urban land pressures.

Sankwasa, a seasoned politician with over 30 years of experience, served as deputy minister of works and transport from 2015 to 2020.

He was appointed by president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on Saturday, alongside his deputy, Evelyn !Nawases-Taeyele.

“Are rural areas developed? When you have more influx from rural areas to the urban areas there is no way the urban land will contain the number of people. You cannot deliver land in the urban areas when you have an influx of people from rural areas on a daily basis,” he says.

Sankwasa says there is a need for balance between urban and rural development, noting that multisectoral integration is needed for development in rural areas and highlighting the need for road infrastructure, healthcare and agriculture, among others.

“Rural development is not one ministry’s responsibility, it is intersectoral. Without those intersectoral linkages we can never get this country right,” he says.

He indicates the need to root out corruption at local, regional and traditional authorities, stressing that corruption has brought injustice to the Namibian people and should be eradicated.

“I want to see change and I want to see that there is no corruption,” he says.

On land delivery, Sankwasa indicates the need to rectify the land reform policy to curb current challenges of the availability of land due to most of the land being commercialised.

“Land delivery is important, but to whom are you delivering the land and where is the land? If more land is commercial than rural, we first have to rectify that policy, because when you deliver land you must find the land that you are going to deliver,” he says.

Meanwhile, !Nawases-Taeyele promises to deliver decent, affordable housing, and sanitation and to restore dignity to citizens.

“I am making myself available as a servant of the people and the Namibian nation,” she says.

!Nawases-Taeyele has held the same position since September 2023 after being appointed by former president Hage Geingob.