Government following land reform law

The Namibian government was abiding by the legal and constitutional guidelines on land reform in spite of President Sam Nujoma's recent statements that current policy might have to be revised, a policy researcher said on Friday. Namibia has opted for a voluntary system of land acquisition, although the government has been frustrated by the pace of change. The Namibian newspaper reported that Nujoma told this week's congress of the ruling SWAPO party that the most practical path for the government was the willing-buyer, willing-seller option rather than the land seizures underway in Zimbabwe. However, earlier this month he told a group of communal farmers frustrated by inflated land prices that the government's approach might have to be re-examined. "The government would like to move quicker, and at less cost, but I don't see the situation where something drastic will happen," Wolfgang Werner, researcher at the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit told IRIN. "The government sticks to legislation and constitutional principles and although they frequently get opposition from radical organisations like trade unions, they have consistently gone along the path of willing-buyer, willing-seller." He said the situation in Zimbabwe was different because the Namibian ruling party's support base in the north and northeast of the country had not been victims of colonial land grabbing and were more interested in issues like access to water and agricultural yields. Werner said that of 5,273 freehold farms, 4,456 where owned by white farmers. At least 100 farms had already voluntarily changed hands under the Commercial Agricultural Land Act of 1995. Government ministers, including Nujoma, had received land, but had paid for it, the researcher added. Werner said farmer's prices were not based purely on the commercial value of the farms and pricing was a combination of trying to get the best price, sentiment and tradition. Namibia also had a tribunal to arbitrate disputes over prices.