New land law slated for September
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform, Inge Zaamwani, officially announced that she will present a far-reaching new land law to the National Assembly.The bill is to be introduced on 3 September 2025, immediately after the recess that began on Friday. Only then will it be known whether this draft is the same one presented by the previous agriculture minister, Carl Schlettwein, on 13 March, which was also distributed among the members of parliament. The debate scheduled for 19 March did not take place because the session that day was the last of the previous legislative period and only farewell speeches were made.
Zaamwani announced on Thursday that the planned law is a direct response by the government to long-standing calls for more comprehensive and effective land reform and builds on the resolutions of the second National Land Conference in October 2018. A key aspect of the bill is to regulate the acquisition of commercial agricultural land by the state for land reform purposes. This includes the explicit transfer of preferential rights to the state regarding the acquisition of commercial agricultural land, as well as mechanisms for the compulsory acquisition and disposal of such land for reform efforts. These acquired lands would then be allocated to Namibian citizens who lack sufficient land or do not own any land at all.
To reshape the country's land ownership structure, "the bill expressly prohibits the acquisition of commercial agricultural land by foreigners and introduces regulations for the leasing of such land by foreign companies," the minister announced. The new bill will also establish a Community Land Development Fund to promote development and productivity. The new law will also detail the delimitation and extent of community land and the procedures for allocating community land rights.