German aid to speed up land reform

The German embassy on Friday confirmed that part of a recent development aid package for Namibia would go toward the country's land reform programme. "Germany has recognised that there is a political need for land reform in Namibia. The funds are intended to assist the government's efforts to fully implement its programme. It must be noted, however, that we support reform that is carried out under the law, according to practices which are economically and ecologically sound," acting German ambassador Klaus-Dieter Duxmann told IRIN. Germany has pledged US $25.66 million in aid to its former colony, of which $7.8 million would be channelled to "technical assistance". Duxmann said some of the money for land would be used to finance the Permanent Technical Committee, recently appointed by the Namibian cabinet, to come up with an action plan for land reform. "The rest of the funds are expected to boost training, resettlement and infrastructure development," he added. Namibia has followed a "willing-buyer, willing-seller" policy, and official statistics show that since independence in 1990, the government has purchased 111 farms - 717,000 hectares in total - at a cost of $13.49 million. Critics have argued that the pace of land redistribution has been far to slow. The government recently blamed the country's commercial farmers for the delays, arguing that they had only offered to sell small, uneconomical plots for resettlement under the willing-buyer, willing-seller model. But analysts have noted that the overwhelming impression was that more land was available for purchase than the government could buy. Dieter added that Germany was satisfied that the money would be "correctly channelled". He said: "Most of the aid Germany provides is through projects and not directly to the country's budget. Before any funds are disbursed we expect feasibility studies to be undertaken and the correct tendering process followed. We are satisfied that the government would adhere to this." The government has set aside N$50 million (US $6.5 million) over the next five years for the purchase of farms. So far it has resettled 30,720 people in communal and commercial farming areas, out of an estimated 243,000 landless Namibians.