Land conference not a political gimmick: Auchab

WINDHOEK, SEPT. 13 – Leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF), Apius Auchab has quashed assertions that the second national land conference is a mere political gimmick by the ruling Swapo Party and Government.
Other political parties and some pressure groups have branded the conference a smokescreen and political gimmick aimed at collecting political points for Swapo ahead of the 2019 general elections.
In an interview with Nampa on Tuesday, Auchab disagreed with that perception.
He said land is a sensitive matter and there is no room to play the blame game if the issue is to be addressed amicably.
“Everybody has been given an opportunity to state their position to say what they want. How can it be a Swapo or government thing? You go there and say this is what we want to see happening in this country on the land issue,” the politician said, before confirming that his party has received its invitation to the land conference.
Auchab said for as long as there are those who criticise the conference, issues pertaining to land may never solved.
The UDF leader then indicated that his party’s position paper will be ready in time for the convention, which takes place in Windhoek from 01 to 05 October.
Chief among the issues dominating the position paper will be ancestral land, which the politician said should be approached with sober minds.
“Talking about ancestral land is a little bit of a high shot. We start at the roots and look at the current situation, how it fits the Namibian people, and then we categorise their needs,” he said.
He further added that not all Namibians are interested in farmland, ancestral land or urban land.
These aspects should be clearly distinguished, he said.
“All of them cannot need huge tracts of land. Some of them just need a small piece of land where they can build their house,” he explained.
The Affirmative Repositioning movement, Landless People’s Movement and Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) have all raised questions over the legitimacy of the conference in addressing Namibia’s land crisis.
Last month, RDP secretary-general Mike Kavekotora said the conference must address urban land, ancestral land, farms owned by absentee landlords and the resettlement programme to be seen as genuine. – NAMPA