Namibia: Parliament Says No to Tabling Communal Land Invoice Closing Minute

Lawmakers beget stood up towards agriculture, water and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein after he tabled the communal land bill at “the last moment”.

Professional opposition leader McHenry Venaani and Swapo backbencher Tjekero Tweya oppose Schlettwein’s tabling of the bill.

The bill involves the establishment of communal land boards and a improvement fund to restrict the acquisition of enterprise agricultural land by foreign nationals and to adjust the leasing of enterprise agricultural land by foreign nationals.

Venaani used to be the major to object to the bill, questioning the minister’s intentions for tabling the bill at the eleventh hour.

“Why would you, minister, table this bill knowing the time this parliament has,” he stated.

Tweya stated this kind of bill can’t be tabled to examine the bins.

“If we could perhaps retreat a bit and take a principled decision and say the bill is here but to do justice to it and to respond to the outcry of the Namibian people that it should not just fall in the normal procedure and say for it to lapse,” he stated.

Landless Of us’s Motion chief whip Utaara Mootu told The Namibian the bill has too many weaknesses for it to be tabled this week.

“He knew we did not have enough time but they wanted to rush this bill with the numbers they have now because next parliament they will not have it. This is last minute,” she provides.