Absentee landlords a bone of contention

Gerine (WE) Hoff
The issue of absentee landlords came out strongly at a community meeting in the Katutura East Constituency on Sunday afternoon, with residents calling on government to seriously address this issue as many Namibians are in dire need of land.

The meeting was aimed at getting input on the land question ahead of the land conference slated for September.

The residents said they have relatives who are buried on farms owned by non-Namibians, but are not allowed to visit the graves. They noted that some Namibians have been living in settlements for years, but do not have land tenure security, which means that they do not own the land they live on.

“They cannot ask for any loan from the bank. Government must therefore fast track the process of security of tenure,” they said.

Another issue they want to be discussed at the land conference is that of people who have been living in conservancies for many years, but do not have the rights over such land, adding that such land should be registered under the people in the conservancies.

They called on the Ministry of Land Reform to make changes with regard to the requirements for one to qualify for a resettlement farm, so as to make the farms productive.

The resettlement farms, they claimed, were allocated to people who do not have animals, while many people who have animals have not been resettled. “The farms are given to people who are weekend farmers, and people who brag they have farms, but underutilise them,” they said.

The meeting was attended by young and old residents of the constituency and was organised by councillor for Katutura East Constituency, Ruben Sheehama. – Nampa