Kavango West against foreign land ownership

RUNDU, 04 OCT – The Kavango West Region has come out strongly against foreigners owning land in Namibia.
The region’s Chief Regional Officer, Mpasi Katewa in a statement sent to the media on Thursday said the position of the region is crystal clear, and that is that no foreigner should be allowed to own land in Namibia.
Katewa was responding to media reports that the region is in support of foreign land ownership, saying his presentation on Tuesday at the second National Land Conference in the capital was misinterpreted.
On Wednesday, a local paper reported that Kavango West is in support of foreign land ownership, reports the chief regional officer were distorted.
“We in the Kavango West Region, and like other patriotic Namibians, know the precious value of land our forefathers fought for… At no stage whatsoever can we allow our land to be owned by foreigners. Our demand is for the immediate amendment of all relevant existing laws so that we stop giving land to foreigners,” said Katewa.
The position presented by the region’s accounting officer at the conference, which was derived from the region’s two consultative meetings, proposed that corrective measures should be taken to address the historical injustice pertaining to land ownership and distribution.
Katewa said no foreigners should be allowed to own land and relevant legislations must be amended or passed to give effect to the resolution and Government should expropriate farms belonging to absentee landlords.
He added that ancestral land claims should be considered in exceptional circumstances.
“We should avoid extreme situations of turning the clock back since we as Namibians have a better understanding of the beauty of peace and the agony of war,” he added.
The five-day land conference started on Monday.
(NAMPA)