Staff Reporter
THE Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, has emphasised that the current funding rate for land reform is insufficient to achieve a meaningful impact.
“The current rate of funding for land reform falls far short of what is needed to implement meaningful land reform. For a successful implementation of the new resettlement policy, budgetary allocations must be significantly improved in the future,” Schlettwein said.
He made these remarks at the National Validation Workshop, a platform for regional consultations on the National Resettlement Criteria. During his speech, Schlettwein highlighted not only the inadequacies of previous land reform policies but also the limited funding allocated toward achieving substantive land reform.
He acknowledged that land redistribution is a sensitive issue in Namibia and thus remains a top priority. The overall goal of the ministry’s land reform efforts, Schlettwein emphasised, is to address the injustices of the German and South African apartheid regimes.
“Many of us here today have lived through or experienced colonial subjugation in one way or another, which brought about skewed land distribution that my ministry is determined to correct until a balanced land redistribution is achieved. It is for this reason that land reform is a high priority in Namibia’s policy landscape. However, it is our contention that high priorities must not only be talked about; they must be appropriately resourced,” Schlettwein added.
