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Misanet.com / The Namibian, 2 December - Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob's appeal to Germany last month to support land reform in Namibia was the first time Government formally asked for assistance on the issue. Germany was the first European country to colonize Namibia. This was revealed by the Director for Africa in Germany's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Helga Gräfin Strachwitz, during a meeting with journalists and political scientists from southern Africa in Berlin 12 days ago. Referring to Geingob's visit to the German capital, Strachwitz told The Namibian that "up until then we had had no formal request". She noted that they had earlier approached Windhoek about "changing" aspects of an ongoing German-Namibian programme to accommodate land reform. However, Namibia had declined at the time. She did not elaborate. In Windhoek yesterday, Geingob confirmed that it was the first time a formal request had been lodged but said they had wanted to approach European countries with a concrete proposal. Strachwitz said the German government was aware of the land situation in Namibia and the importance of doing something about it "as quickly as possible". She said Germany was, in principle, ready to help with land reform in Namibia. "There is no reluctance on our side to help. On the contrary," the German official emphasised. The issue was likely to be discussed during consultations with Namibia in early December, she said. However, Strachwitz noted, if Germany granted funds to buy land "many questions" on land reform and land redistribution would have to be clarified. In this respect she specifically mentioned land ownership, for example would title to the land rest with individuals, or would they be granted access to the land for a "lease period", for example 30 years. Another question needing clarification was the provision of farming skills to potential beneficiaries as part of a land reform programme. Strachwitz said land reform involved huge programmes and indicated it could not be undertaken by a bilateral donor alone. She said it was likely the European Union would be ready to co-operate. Repeating that resolution of the land issue in southern Africa was "a serious, difficult and important issue", Strachwitz said it appeared that in Zimbabwe land reform was "instrumentalised in terms of elections". If countries did not want to chase investment away, it was imperative that land reform was carried out within the framework of their constitution and according to the rule of law. "There is nothing shyer than foreign money," she noted soberly. The land issue was also raised by SPD Member of Parliament, Joachim Tappe, Chair of the German Bundestag's German-East African Parliamentary Group. Tappe acknowledged that the necessity for land reform was not in dispute but said the method was. -
I hope Namibia doesn't follow that bad example, he said, referring to Zimbabwe. By Jean Sutherland, The Namibian
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