Eviction of communities, unlawful land rights concern Schlettwein

Eviction of communities, unlawful land rights concern SchlettweinCalls on land boards to tackle issues The hand-on ministerappealed to land boards to abide by policies and the law when making decisions, which should be in the interest of the future generation. Kenya Kambowe







RUNDU

Agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein says reports on evictions of communities from communal land - where they have lived for many years – are worrisome.

This as well as the allocation of unreasonable sizes of land on commonages have been troubling the minister, who called on land boards to tackle these issues.

The hand-on minister also appealed to land boards to abide by policies and the law when making decisions, which should be in the interest of the future generation.

Schlettwein made these remarks virtually on Friday during the inauguration of the new land board members for the Kavango East, Kavango West, Ohangwena and Zambezi regions, which took place in Rundu.

He added that evictions of communities are especially prevalent in the two Kavango regions.

Namibian Sun recently reported that Kavango and Zambezi residents feel their ancestral land was taken from them by government to establish irrigation schemes and national parks, yet the land is not being used productively and they derive no benefits from it.

This is contained in an ancestral land report presented to President Hage Geingob by a committee commissioned to look into claims of ancestral land rights and restitution.

Unreasonable land sizes

Schlettwein also used the opportunity to urge land board members to refrain from approving land beyond what the law prescribes.

“The allocation of unreasonable sizes of land parcels on commonages is another concern. Some communal land boards have been approving land rights exceeding 50 hectares for customary land rights and exceeding 100 hectares in case of rights of leasehold. This is a contravention of the provisions of the Communal Land Reform Act. Many of those allocations have led to unnecessary disputes and litigation processes. I thus urge you all to refrain from this practice and be compliant to the provisions of the law,” Schlettwein warned.

Meanwhile, the minister also announced the establishment of the first communal land board for Kavango West.

Previously, land board issues for the region were administered by the Kavango East land board.

kenya@namibiansun.com