Land reform will not destabilise country, says PM

Prime Minister Theo Ben Gurirab has moved to assure the Commonwealth that Namibia will not emulate Zimbabwe's controversial land reform programme. Comments by Namibian President Sam Nujoma at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, that Britain was to blame for Zimbabwe's land redistribution problems, had caused concern that Namibia would follow the same path. "Prime Minister Gurirab has told visiting Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon that Namibia will pursue a route that will not destabilise the country when redistributing land. "Prime Minister Gurirab also said the government is committed to the principle of 'willing buyer/willing seller'," said a statement from Gurirab's office. Gurirab made the remarks during a courtesy call on Monday by McKinnon. McKinnon was in Namibia to attend the 48th conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Gurirab's clarification of Namibia's position followed reports that European diplomats in the capital, Windhoek, were to meet to decide how to respond to Nujoma's statements at the WSSD. Markus Theobald, the interim charge d'affaires of the EU in Windhoek, told The Namibian newspaper that the EU was surprised by Nujoma's claims that donor nations' requirements on good governance and democracy represented only European values.