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BBC: Another African country studies Bobâs agricultural model for prosperity
EFL from WorldwireRemember the Scottish farmer who got kicked out of Zimbawe but moved to Zambia. (from a story by The Scotsman - which explains explains the interest in an expatriot Scot) Well heâs lucky he didnât move to Namibia. A group of black farmers in Namibia says it will occupy 15 white-owned farms next week. It says the governmentâs policy of purchasing white-owned farms is moving too slowly in correcting unequal patterns of landownership. We hear that other countries are getting free grain from the UN; why shoud we be left out? A government spokesman said it would not tolerate any land invasions and urged landless people to be patient. We want to adopt a more cautious approach to screwing up our country. About 4,000, mostly white, commercial farmers own almost half of Namibiaâs arable land. Agriculture, mostly beef exports, is Namibiaâs second-highest export earner after mining. The leader of the Nambia Farm Workers Union denied that he was going to copy the land invasions in Zimbabwe, saying his group would be peaceful. "There will be no damage to property or occupying of anybodyâs house," said Alfred Angula.
"We are only interested in Whoooosh - the sound of all foriegn investment leaving the area. Namibiaâs President Sam Nujoma is a close ally of Zimbabweâs Robert Mugabe and last year Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab said he would increase the pressure on white farmers to sell their land. My friend Bill Clinton has recommended a man named Anthony J. Pellicano. He has a reputation fro persuasiveness. Namibiaâs Government is committed to the principle of "willing buyer— willing seller" — which means no-one is forced to sell up, but if they do the state gets first refusal. We refuse to let you sell - unless it is to my wife. Zimbabwe also followed this principle for 17 years after independence in 1980. Did quite a bit of this African stuff hit the fan after Jesse Jackson returned to Bill Clinton and announced that we needed to back this Charles Taylor guy? A senior official in the ministry of lands, resettlement and rehabilitation, Frans Tsheehama, said the government would not allow any illegal land occupations. "Let us be patient and follow the adopted policy of land reform. I do not see us, as a country, winning via any other route," he said. Whites make up 6% of the Namibian population and about one third of them are descended from German settlers. Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-05 |
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