Land will not make you rich – Geingob
President Hage Geingob reiterated his stance that access to land alone will not enrich land owners unless the land is productively utilised, adding that if more people are employed, the calls for land will not be so loud.
Geingob, who has for years indicated that land provision is not the only panacea to poverty, made the remarks recently during an interview with international broadcaster Al Jazeera, where he was questioned on an avalanche of issues impacting Namibia.
He was probed on land ownership in Namibia and the fact that a huge chunk of land is still in the hands of previously advantaged persons.
“Land per se does not make you rich; I have a farm for more than 20 years but I can tell you that you can sit there and starve. We [government] bought land and resettled our people, but if you do not train them to use land, [it] does not help because that land needs to be utilised,” he said.
He added that the increasing calls for land are fuelled by unemployment.
“If everyone in town has jobs, will they ask for land? If they are properly employed and have a proper income and if you can address poverty on a wholesale level, it can help,” Geingob said.
Meaningful impact
Namibia has since independence struggled to make a meaningful impact on land ownership; this includes hosting land conferences and the land resettlement programme, which has largely benefitted well-connected individuals and those in the top echelons of government.
Geingob partly blamed the land conundrum on constitutional provisions regulating land ownership.
“Land was made to be a property so it cannot just be taken away, hence it becomes difficult under our constitution to grab the land,” he said.
Asked why the state has not changed the constitution to address these bottlenecks, he responded: “You have to go with time”.
The president also claimed that land-grabbing will not solve Namibians’ land thirst, saying “there must be a win-win situation”.
“Some people use it [land] as a right to belong. How about Windhoek? It also belonged to others. We are addressing the situation in a fair way to those we are reconciling with,” he said.
Geingob also quipped that the Zimbabwean government took land from white farmers years ago, but that land is now gradually making its way back into the hands of white farmers.
‘I have given up’
Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda said Geingob’s discourse on the land question is misplaced.
“He has a neoliberal understanding of the situation. Land is at the core of our African existence and it should not be used as a commodity. Personally, I have given up on him [Geingob] to find solutions to the land question,” he said.
The land activist added: “Whenever he [Geingob] speaks on land, he ends up frustrating people because he will never change his orientation and he does not listen to alternative views”.
Geingob, who has for years indicated that land provision is not the only panacea to poverty, made the remarks recently during an interview with international broadcaster Al Jazeera, where he was questioned on an avalanche of issues impacting Namibia.
He was probed on land ownership in Namibia and the fact that a huge chunk of land is still in the hands of previously advantaged persons.
“Land per se does not make you rich; I have a farm for more than 20 years but I can tell you that you can sit there and starve. We [government] bought land and resettled our people, but if you do not train them to use land, [it] does not help because that land needs to be utilised,” he said.
He added that the increasing calls for land are fuelled by unemployment.
“If everyone in town has jobs, will they ask for land? If they are properly employed and have a proper income and if you can address poverty on a wholesale level, it can help,” Geingob said.
Meaningful impact
Namibia has since independence struggled to make a meaningful impact on land ownership; this includes hosting land conferences and the land resettlement programme, which has largely benefitted well-connected individuals and those in the top echelons of government.
Geingob partly blamed the land conundrum on constitutional provisions regulating land ownership.
“Land was made to be a property so it cannot just be taken away, hence it becomes difficult under our constitution to grab the land,” he said.
Asked why the state has not changed the constitution to address these bottlenecks, he responded: “You have to go with time”.
The president also claimed that land-grabbing will not solve Namibians’ land thirst, saying “there must be a win-win situation”.
“Some people use it [land] as a right to belong. How about Windhoek? It also belonged to others. We are addressing the situation in a fair way to those we are reconciling with,” he said.
Geingob also quipped that the Zimbabwean government took land from white farmers years ago, but that land is now gradually making its way back into the hands of white farmers.
‘I have given up’
Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda said Geingob’s discourse on the land question is misplaced.
“He has a neoliberal understanding of the situation. Land is at the core of our African existence and it should not be used as a commodity. Personally, I have given up on him [Geingob] to find solutions to the land question,” he said.
The land activist added: “Whenever he [Geingob] speaks on land, he ends up frustrating people because he will never change his orientation and he does not listen to alternative views”.
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