Namibians divided on land reform, including expropriation – survey
Around 52% of people said the government’s land resettlement programme is ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ effective in redistributing land to those who need it most, according to a new Afrobarometer survey released this week.
The Afrobarometer, a pan-African, non-partisan research network, conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues in more than 35 countries in Africa.
According to the survey, only about half of Namibians rate the government’s land resettlement programme as effective, and more than four in 10 say land should be expropriated without compensation and given to the landless.
Key findings of the survey suggest that a stronger majority (58%) see the government’s provision of serviced land and housing in urban areas as effective.
“Asked about their preferences for land reform, a plurality (41%) of Namibians said the government should expropriate land without any compensation and give it to those without land,” the survey said, while slightly fewer (36%) believe the current policy of willing-buyer, willing- seller is adequate and should be continued.
Furthermore, the survey indicated that onlyOnly 16% say that no further land reform is necessary and the current policy should be discontinued.
Meanwhile , drought, water supply, and other issues have superseded land among Namibians’
“most important problems” for the government to address. About one in eight respondents (13%) cite land among their three priorities, dropping land from No. 3 in 2017 to No. 9
According to the survey, land reform remains among the top 10 problems that Namibians want the government to address, but the country’s crippling drought, water supply, and other issues have superseded land on their list of priorities.
The Afrobarometer team in Namibia, led by Survey Warehouse, interviewed 1,200 adult Namibians in August 2019. A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, the survey added.
Meanwhile, previous surveys were conducted in Namibia in 1999, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2017.
