- The Namibian government says that white commercial farmers are abusing the protection they receive when farm workers and unionists are restrained from carrying out threats to invade their farms.
Namibian Deputy Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Isak Katali, has accused "many" white farmers of failing to help the Namibian government resolve the land reform issue, and says the "writing is on the wall" for those who hide behind government protection.
In a statement sent to 'The Namibian', Mr Katali says some white commercial farmers are promoting the notion that nothing good can come from black-owned farms and that many farms bought from them by government are "in bad shape."
- The public is made to believe that, when a white farmer sells the farm, everything is white and after selling the farm everything becomes black, Mr Katali states. "White and black in this case are associated with good and bad respectively," he adds.
If every white-owned farm in Namibia had been productive, Mr Katali argues, there would have been no need to lease those farms to others.
Many white farmers lease their land to speculators who keep the animals they buy at auction on the land before reselling them. "There are or were farms [before they were sold to the government] with no single livestock of the owner but only those who were leasing," the Deputy Minister claims.
Mr Katali adds that features such as fences, boreholes, drinking troughs and dams on many farms are in bad shape but people are made to believe that things will deteriorate the very minute a black takes over. He pointedly exempted white commercial farmers who produce for the good of Namibia from his scathing attack.
About 4,000, mostly white, commercial farmers own almost half of Namibia's arable land. This result of colonial settling policies still is a root cause of social differences following racial lines in Namibia.
The Windhoek government, together with commercial farmers and black farmers' organisations, however are seeking to implement a peaceful and orderly land reform. The reform, which includes voluntary government buyouts, is also financially supported by Namibia's former colonial power, Germany.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español