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/ 17 November 2005

First compulsory Namibian farm sale concluded

”We have cried long enough,” says Hilde Wiese, a commercial farmer from Namibia, her eyes red. ”Now we’re actually pleased that it’s all over.” This week, a chapter of colonial history closed as the Wieses prepared to vacate their farm, the first white-owned farm to be expropriated under Namibia’s fast-tracked land-reform programme.

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/ 1 November 2005

Treason suspects in Namibia want ‘political dialogue’

The trial of 120 Namibians for alleged treason and participation in a failed separatist uprising six years ago resumed on Tuesday with the suspects requesting a ”political dialogue” with the government. Speaking on behalf of the group supposedly active in Namibia’s restive Caprivi region, one of the accused, Martin Tubaundule, made the demand to Judge Elton Hoff.

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/ 28 October 2005

Namibians pay homage to chief who fought Germans

Nama-speaking tribes in Namibia will flock to a tiny village this weekend to pay tribute a famous chief who raised the banner of revolt against German colonial forces but was killed in battle a century ago. Tribal members will descend on Gibeon, a small town about 360km south of Windhoek, to commemorate Hendrik Witbooi, who perished on 29 October 1905 while fighting the German army.

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/ 26 September 2005

Namibia’s land programme is flawed, says NGO

Namibia’s land reform programme is flawed because poor and landless people are not being empowered to become successful farmers once they have been resettled, claims a new report. The Legal Assistance Centre, a local NGO, stressed that land reform involved more than just ”buying or expropriating land from one group in order to give more land to another group”.

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/ 19 September 2005

Namibian farmworkers face eviction

About 70 Namibian farmworkers and their families face an uncertain future after the first expropriation of a white-owned farm by the government and are fighting to retain their jobs and homes. The Namibia Farmworkers’ Union has taken up their case and says the workers, who face penury and homelessness according to the present owner, cannot be cast away on the roadside.

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/ 2 September 2005

Namibia concludes first forced farm sale

The first compulsory sale of a white-owned farm concluded in Namibia this week, bringing fresh impetus to the government’s land-reform programme and raising concerns among white farmers of Zimbabwean-style land seizures. ”we have no choice and we have to make the best of it,” said the farm owner.

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/ 13 August 2005

Chissano ‘ready’ to mediate in Zim

Former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said on Friday he is ”ready” to mediate between Zimbabwe’s ruling party and the opposition, following his appointment to broker talks in the crisis-hit Southern African country. ”I will now assess if the two sides wish to talk to each other,” Chissano said.

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/ 5 August 2005

Namibian govt set to expropriate 18 farms

Namibia’s government is set to serve final notices of expropriation on 18 white commercial farmers after it failed to reach an agreement on the price of the land in the arid Southern African country. ”If there is no other solution, then that is the way to go,” Lands Minister Jerry Ekandjo said late on Thursday.

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/ 18 July 2005

Pohamba extends olive branch to white Afrikaners

Newly elected Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba on Sunday extended the olive branch to the country’s white Afrikaners, but warned that an unwillingness to share land in the arid country ”could spark a revolution”. Pohamba became the first head of state since Namibian independence in 1990 to attend a church service of the Dutch Reformed Church.

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/ 21 March 2005

Namibia swears in new president

President-elect Hifikepunye Pohamba was sworn in on Monday as Namibia’s second president since independence, succeeding veteran leader Sam Nujoma who held power in the Southern African country for 15 years. Pohamba took the oath to uphold the Constitution before 20 000 people assembled at a stadium in Windhoek.

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/ 20 March 2005

Namibian Parliament bids farewell to Nujoma

Namibian President Sam Nujoma on Saturday hailed his country’s 15-year record of democracy and peace, as he gave his farewell speech to Parliament before he steps down. He praised the members of the former Constituent Assembly who elected him as head of state in 1990 and who drafted the country’s Constitution after its independence.

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/ 10 March 2005

Namibian court orders election recount

Namibia’s High Court on Thursday ordered a recount of ballots from the November parliamentary elections that were overwhelmingly won by the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation party. But the judge refused to grant a request from two opposition parties that the elections should be declared null and void due to irregularities.

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/ 21 February 2005

No retirement blues for Sam Nujoma

It is the type of retirement package by which even those leaders most wedded to their jobs might be seduced. When outgoing Namibian President Sam Nujoma hands over power to his successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, on March 21, he will continue receiving the same monthly salary as the Southern African country’s new leader.

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/ 20 November 2004

Nujoma’s chosen successor takes presidency

President Sam Nujoma’s chosen successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, won an overwhelming victory in elections in Namibia, garnering more than 77% of the vote, results from more than half of counted ballots showed on Friday. Pohamba is to become Namibia’s second president since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

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/ 18 November 2004

Pohamba leads in early Namibian poll results

Namibian President Sam Nujoma’s chosen successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, held a commanding lead on Thursday as first results of elections in the Southern African country of Namibia were released. Namibians voted on Monday and Tuesday to choose a new leader to fill the shoes of founding president and liberation hero Nujoma.

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/ 15 November 2004

Namibia goes to the polls

President Sam Nujoma called on Namibians to vote on Monday as he cast his ballot on the first day of elections in the Southern African country that are set to hand victory to his hand-picked successor. Nujoma is expected to be succeeded by Lands Minister Hifikepunye Pohamba, who is widely tipped to win the presidential election.

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/ 1 July 2004

Nujoma on farewell tour

Namibian President Sam Nujoma travelled to Zambia on Thursday ahead of trips to Kenya, Tanzania and later this month to China and Malaysia as part of a farewell tour before stepping down in March. Nujoma, who is travelling with members of his Cabinet, is to open a trade fair in Zambia.

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/ 13 June 2004

Global warming threatens Skeleton Coast

Parts of Namibia’s exotic Skeleton Coast could be submerged by the end of the century and its rich marine life badly hit by global warming, a report by the Southern African country’s Environment and Tourism Ministry warns. The sea level could rise between 30cm and 100cm in the next 96 years, the report says.

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/ 28 May 2004

Namibia’s white farmers hold out hope

Namibia’s white farmers are hopeful of a negotiated solution to a crisis over land reform despite recent moves by the government to expropriate farms and hand them over to blacks. The government in the middle of May served notices on 15 white farmers giving them 14 days to offer their land for sale to the state.