Don’t sell land to the highest bidder- Nandi-Ndaitwah warns traditional leaders

STAFF WRITER

President Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah on Monday warned traditional leaders against selling  communal land to the highest bladder at the expense of deserving local communities.

She was addressing the annual Council of  Traditional leaders meeting in Ondangwa.

The president invited the traditional authorities to join hands with the government to foster unity of purpose.

She said the traditional leaders must familiarise themselves with the policies and programmes aimed at creating jobs for young people.

She said this will  bring tangible socio-economic development to communities through proper land management.

“I have said it before, and I will say it again, that corruption is like a cancer that eats into the very fabric of society, leading to misallocation of resources and thereby deepening societal inequalities, increasing poverty and unemployment. Corruption could also occur when communal land, under the custody of traditional authorities, is sold to the highest bidder.

“ If these practices are carried out in your areas of jurisdiction, whereby you deny your less privileged subjects a piece of land to live on and practice farming to feed their families, that practice is to be brought to an end. You have heard me say that it is no longer business as usual, and this also applies to traditional leaders. We all have a responsibility to deliver quality service to our people within our respective areas of responsibility,”Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

The President made a passionate plea to  traditional leaders to lead by example, promote dialogue, transparency, accountability, rule of law, and to ensure that Namibia succeeds in our collective fight against corruption in every sector of governance.

“I, therefore, call upon all Traditional Leaders to support the Government in the implementation of the 6th National Development Plan (NDP6) to achieve our developmental objectives as stated in Vision 2030. Our business is to find sustainable solutions that contribute to improving the quality of life for the people we are called to serve,” said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said one of the most significant challenges facing Namibia  is the persistent rise in the unemployment rate, particularly among young people.

“According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), the youth unemployment rate is at 44.4 percent, which is unacceptably high.Therefore, in our efforts to find solutions to the unemployment situation, I need you to identify viable and legitimate endowments, competitive advantages and opportunities in each of your localities. Let us utilize communal land as a form of capital that supports investment in community development and job creation,” she said.

She commended traditional leaders for availing land to the government and private sectors to establish green Scheme Farms and other agricultural initiatives by private investors, such as grapes, blueberries, just to mention a few.

 “I am also aware of land that has already been allocated, especially in the Zambezi region, by our traditional leaders, which has not been utilized for years. I assure you that that land too shall be put to production soon.

“I have recently visited the Green scheme farms in Zambezi, Kavango East, Kavango West and Omusati Regions. I am happy with the progress so far, compared to when I visited some of those farms last year. I came back very disappointed as they were not operating at their expected potential. The progress I have seen is encouraging, people are highly motivated, a lot has been done, and what remains will be done when every citizen plays a part,” she said.