Namibia country report

Herero traditional leaders ascribed the evictions to “apartheid and tribalism”, and viewedthem as politically motivated. However, the majority (30 out of 56) of the people concernedwere SWAPO supporters who vacated the farms without a demonstration, saying that asSWAPO supporters they did not want to fight their own government. Herero Chief Riruako,on the other hand, said that SWAPO members had never lost land and yet were the first tobenefit from land redistribution (Werner 2003: 15-16).Subsequent threats made by trade union leaders and regional politicians in Omaheke tograb commercial farmland and carry out Zimbabwe-style invasions of commercial farmshave not materialised (ibid.: 20). However, the SWAPO Chief Whip recently argued that theWSWB concept is not working and that government needs to make another plan, “even ifwe grab land Zimbabwe style” (Die Republikein, 5.5.2009).2.10 Institutional framework governingresettlementThe ACLRA stipulates that the functions of land appraisal, land use planning, demarcation,selection of beneficiaries and land allocation will be carried out by the MLA, and to datethe whole process of land delivery has been highly centralised. However, the NationalResettlement Policy of 2001 identifies a range of line ministries and NGOs which areexpected to support land redistribution in their respective areas of responsibility. TheMinistries include: Agriculture, Water and Forestry; Environment and Tourism; Regionaland Local Government, Housing and Rural Development; Education; and Health and SocialServices. The contributions of these Ministries to the land reform process have ranged fromnon-existent to reasonably good. Co-operation and co-ordination with the Ministry ofAgriculture, Water and Forestry remains elusive. The National Resettlement Policy reiteratespolicy statements in an earlier version (1997) that it is vital to involve Regional Councils inthe planning and implementation phases of the National Resettlement Programme (NRP). Thepolicy of 2001 states that resettlement schemes, once established by MLR headquarters,should be one of the responsibilities of the Regional Councils (MLR 2001a: 12).This is in line with Namibia’s Decentralisation Policy which identifies resettlement as oneof the functions to be decentralised. To comply with this policy, the MLR has identifiedthe activities and resources to be decentralised to Regional Councils, and has prepared adraft schedule of activities and a timetable for the implementation of its DecentralisationAction Plan. 9 At the time of writing, the MLR was still busy finalising its decentralisation offunctions, and a number of Regional Councils were reported to be ready to accept some ofthe decentralised responsibilities.In 1999 the MLR identified the need to establish bodies at regional and local level “to identifyregional needs and to undertake selection to assist with the allocation (sic)” (The Land, 2(2),1999: 4). These bodies, i.e. the Regional Resettlement Committees (RRCs), are expected to9See http://www.decentralisation.gov.na/roleplayers/1_nat_gov/Ministry_of_Lands.html (accessed 23.4.2009).Section Livelihoods A ● 2. Land after Reform Land and Reform: Poverty: Namibia National country Policy report Context (2010) ● 45