Foreign nationals have exploited shortfalls in Namibian legislation to acquire land in the country, Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Minister Hifikepunye Lukas Pohamba said in Windhoek on Tuesday.
Pohamba told the Namibian National Assembly amendments to existing legislation would assist the government to increase the pace of acquiring land for distribution to the landless majority of the country.
The proposed amendments would vest in the state a right to purchase agricultural land in the country and also allow the government to regulate the acquisition of agricultural land by foreign nationals.
Pohamba said one of the loopholes discovered in existing legislation was that many landholders registered their farms as closed corporations (CCs), which enabled foreign nationals to continue acquiring or purchasing agricultural land in Namibia.
The minister said this contravened a section of legislation which restricted the acquisition of land by foreign nationals.
He said legislation was silent on the validity of a certificate of waiver and noted that the amendment would seek to make this certificate, obtained when the state waivers its right to buy a given piece of land, valid for a period of one year only.
Pohamba proposed further restrictions on the acquisition of agricultural land by foreign nationals and said provisions should be made for the Registrar of CCs and Companies to confer and agree with the Permanent Secretary of the Lands Ministry on any transfer of controlling interest in land, should such interest be passed on to a foreign national.
The newly proposed legislation also suggested that the Permanent Secretary of the Lands Ministry should be the chair of the Land Reform Advisory Commission (LRAC). The current chair was elected by members of the LRAC.
The leader of the official opposition, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance/United Democratic Front (DTA/UDF) Coalition, Katuutire Kaura, adjourned the debate on the bill to next week Tuesday. – Sapa