Justicia Shipena
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member of parliament Inna Hengari says the proposed Land Bill fails to address the deep-rooted bias that favours male heirs in communal land allocations and inheritance.
She said current laws and traditional practices continue to disadvantage women in land ownership.
Hengari was contributing to the general debate on the land bill in Parliament on Tuesday.
The bill was reintroduced in the National Assembly last week by minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Management, Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi. The bill aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework that will facilitate equitable land reform in Namibia.
“Women, who form the backbone of rural economies and manage between 60 and 80% of smallholder farming, face patriarchal barriers in communal allocations and resettlement. While Section 32 recognises existing customary rights, it does little to challenge discriminatory traditional practices that favour male heirs,” Hengari said.
She called for explicit provisions in the bill to promote women’s co-ownership of land, protection against dispossession upon widowhood, and access to training and resources.
The bill seeks to improve land redistribution and access for women, youth, generational farmworkers, and corridor dwellers by consolidating the Agricultural Commercial Land Reform and Communal Land Reform Acts.
Land ownership has remained unequal in Namibia, with 10% of the population owning over 70% of commercial land. According to the 2023 Census, only 45% of Namibia’s land is under agricultural use.
Hengari also warned that the Bill’s good intentions could falter without stronger accountability and data. Hengari criticised the absence of a comprehensive national land audit, saying it is impossible to measure progress or address elite capture without accurate information.
“We have resettled over 5 500 beneficiaries, yet without a land audit, we legislate in the dark,” she said.
Hengari urged lawmakers to prioritise youth and rural development by simplifying access to land and cutting bureaucracy.
She proposed fast-track mechanisms for young farmers, digital application systems, and youth quotas in resettlement programmes.
“We must make land a tool for empowerment, not a barrier,” she said.
She said the bill should include requirements for eco-friendly agricultural practices and water harvesting to strengthen rural communities against drought and degradation.
Hengari also warned that the failure to allow the optional conversion of communal rights into freehold title deeds perpetuates colonial-era inequalities.
“While registration provides basic security, it does not allow residents to use land as collateral for loans. This maintains a dual system where freehold land creates wealth while communal land remains undervalued,” she said.
She supported the bill’s prohibition on foreign land ownership but cautioned against loopholes that could allow indirect acquisitions through proxies.
Hengari also called for adequate funding and training for communal land boards and the lands tribunal to ensure effective enforcement.
Swapo MP calls for chiefs to keep land authority
The bill was first tabled in March 2025 by former agriculture and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein but was not debated.
It introduces a centralised land tribunal to resolve disputes in both communal and commercial areas and creates a communal land development fund while retaining the land acquisition and development fund for resettlement and commercial land.
It also prohibits the acquisition of communal and commercial land by foreign nationals, sets up land committees to issue consent letters in areas without recognised traditional authorities, and introduces stricter measures against non-compliance and pollution.
Swapo member of parliament Sebastiaan Karupu proposed that representatives from each community conservancy be included on the communal land boards, arguing that conservancies play an essential role in land stewardship and community development.
“Conservancies are legally recognised entities under the Nature Conservation Ordinance Act of 1996 and are vital in land management, wildlife conservation, and generating community benefits within communal areas,” Karupu said.
He also urged that the powers of the land boards be limited to administrative functions, saying chiefs and traditional authorities should retain the authority to allocate and cancel communal land rights.
“The power to allocate and cancel communal land rights should be vested in the chief of that traditional community after consulting the traditional authority. The phrase ‘subject to ratification by the relevant communal land board’ should be removed from the bill,” Karupu said.
He raised concern over section 22(1) of the Bill, which states that all communal land areas vest in the State and are held in trust by traditional authorities.
He said that if land is held in their custody, traditional leaders should have the authority to make decisions on it.
Karupu further called for the removal of all provisions giving communal land boards the power to ratify or overturn decisions made by chiefs and traditional authorities.
He emphasised the importance of recognising traditional institutions as fundamental to Namibia’s history and governance, saying they predate civil authority.
“Many of our traditional leaders shed their blood for this country. To deny them their inherent authority by placing it in an appointed board is not fair.”
Karupu urged lawmakers to respect and preserve the authority of traditional leaders.
