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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/live/crossing_20021205.ram

Namibia: The next Zimbabwe?

Rosie Goldsmith
Reporting from Namibia  


Namibia has been a stable country with a promising economy since independence in 1990. But alarm bells rang when the country's President, Sam Nujoma, berated the West for meddling in African affairs. Will he follow Zimbabwe's lead and seize white-owned land?

Cattle ranching in this semi-desert country is often all the land can bear
Once, Namibia may have seemed a model of black-white reconciliation in Africa.



But today, resentment between the black and white populations is growing, with tensions focused on land.

Recently, a dispute resulted in over 100 demonstrators occupying a white farm for the first time.


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White Namibia - mainly Afrikaners and Germans - makes up only 6% of the population. Yet whites own half the land.

Land denied

Irmgarter Zeth was abandoned by her husband. She looks after five children, a shop, a bar and 100 cattle.

Her ancestors, the Herero people, once owned the land she now wants to buy.

She recalls how the Herero were nearly wiped out by the German colonisers after they seized the land in the land appropriation of 1884.

She has applied to the government three times to take ownership of her own farm, but with no luck.

Third-generation German farmer Harry Schneider has sympathy for people like Irmgarter.

Looking out across his 40-hectare cattle farm in the stunning Waterberg area, north of the capital, he reminds me: "I'm a Namibian too!"

He understands that life for the white farming community cannot continue in the same way, so he has already sold 15 hectares of his land for resettlement.

But he is pragmatic. "This land is a real commitment," he said. "It is tough and drought-ridden. If the commercial farms are handed over to unskilled farmers will they cope?"

He sees the white community still playing an important part in strengthening Namibia's economy.

'Cult of Sam'

But Mr Schneider fears that even with making land sale gestures, reallocation of land will not work without further efforts.

Such efforts will be driven from the top. But that is where the international community has expressed concerns.

Phil Ya Nangoloh, director of the Namibian Society for Human Rights, talks of the "growing cult of Sam".

This refers to Sam Nujoma, the charismatic president who led his country to independence 12 years ago.

Today, the Namibian president's popularity is stronger than ever and loyalty among his voters is growing.

But recently, his policies and opinions have begun to cause widespread concern.

This was noted when he berated the West for meddling in African affairs during his speech at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg last September 2002.

Similarities

His comments bore many similarities to the views expressed by his friend and ally, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

That may not be surprising, as the two men have a great deal in common.

Like Mr Mugabe, Mr Nujoma spent many years leading his country to independence.

And, like Mr Mugabe, he has now self-styled himself "president for life".

Some policies bear a resemblance too.

Mr Nujoma says homosexuality is "not African" - just like Mr Mugabe and he has also stopped state television from airing foreign programmes.

But will Mr Nujoma develop policies that bear a resemblance to the land ownership troubles witnessed in Zimbabwe?

For now, a fragile peace exists between Namibia's black and white communities.

And for as long as Sam Nujoma remains a popular president, he has no need to play the land card in the same way as Mr Mugabe.

But all Namibians are watching Zimbabwe closely.

Not necessarily to follow their example, but maybe to learn from mistakes.

STOP MISINFORMING PEOPLE, WHITES OWN MORE THAN 70% OF LAND IN NAMIBIA. NAMIBIANS DO WNT THE SAME SITUATION AS IN ZIMBABWE, BUT WHAT DO U EXPECT IF WHITES DO WANT TO SHARE THE LAND THAT WAS STOLEN FROM THE SAME PEOPLE NEGOTIATING TO BUY SOME OF THE STOLEN LAND? SAME NUJOMA FOR YOUR INFORMATION HE HAS INDICATED HIS WILLING TO STEP DOWN WHEN HIS TERM EXPIRES. THIS IS OUR LAND WHERE ALL THE WEALTH CAN BE CREATED. WE BELIEVE IN OURSELVES WE CAN DO IT, WE CAN IMPROVE OUR WELFARE. NAMIBIAN FARMERS FOR EXAMPLE EXPORT MORE THAN 85% MEAT PRODUCTS TO EUROPE AND OTHER COUNTRIES AND ONLY A LIMITED % IS SUPPLIED IN THE DOMESTIC MARKET YET THE MAJORITY ARE STARVING....WHAT DO YOU THINK? IN NAMIBIA ALL WHAT THE PEOPLE AND THE PRESDENT NEED IS COPERATION WITH WHITES IN SOLVING THIS SERIOUS PROBLEM,TO HAVE A COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF THE REALITIES IN THE REAL WORLD.

BONN

What the hell are you talking about?  

I didn't misinform anybody that was the title of the article from BBC go look it up for yourself I didn't write that article.

The Diasporas would be well advised to wake up to what is going on in Africa!!! African leaders of today continue to kid themselves that after the DESTRUCTION OF IRAQ AND IRAN we Africans could live in peace.. Where in the world would you find a human being tied hand and foot and dragged behind a truck untill his body parts disintegrate? It could only happen in the US (the so-called protector of human rights). Yet this country has the audacity to criticize Mr. Mugabe who had been conned by the British Government for 22 years! Mr. Nujoma's approach really strengthens one's dignity and is more productive and comprehensively progressive!!
Black people around the world must wake up to the fact that the Land of Africa will never rest until those who enslave us spiritually and physically are put away.  

Thanks for the info Africanprince. Bring some more!

Bantu Kelani.

There just needs to be more unity, you have to make the European nation respect us.  A lot of the leaders on the continent are wimps/puppets that only give a damn about there own personal wealth. Majority of our leaders lack any type of creativity.