THE acting secretary general of the Council of Churches in Namibia, Ludwig Beukes, says the country's land question should not be dominated by sentimental reasons, but must be guided by God.
Beukes said this when he addressed a mini-land conference for the Association of Charismatic and Pentecostal Churches of Namibia (ACPCN) in Windhoek on Monday.
Leaders of the Pentecostal churches discussed issues related to ancestral land claims and land reform, expropriation of land without compensation, and access to and the importance of land for churches.
The decisions taken at the event would form part of the recommendations of the CCN to the land conference.
Although consensus at the meeting was that the issue of ancestral land be discussed at the land conference, Beukes said resolutions to address the land question should not be based on "ancestral claims, or some Odendaal commission".
According to him, it is only through prayer and the church that the land can be healed, and that the outcomes of the national land conference scheduled to run from Monday to Friday next week would work out in favour of the nation.
"The land belongs to God, and it was given by God unto man to manage it on His behalf. It is only through prayer that this conference can work out in favour of the nation," he stressed.
Beukes also urged the churches to hold prayers on Sunday ahead of the opening of the conference on Monday for a proper implementation of the resolutions to be taken at the event.
ACPCN president Jan Fritz Gawaseb said the land conference must pass resolutions which would regulate the prices of land in the country so that the vast majority of people who do not have land can also afford to buy land.
"The land is now very expensive, which makes it impossible for people to own land. This must be addressed," he stated.
Gawaseb added that the land conference must also pass resolutions to compel local authorities to remove impediments preventing churches from obtaining land, and to give land to churches for free.
"Most churches exist for a good purpose, so it is important for them to get land. But procedures and prices put up by local authorities sometimes make it difficult for churches to obtain land," he said.
The government should also follow and apply legal procedures when dealing with the issue of ancestral land, because "those currently occupying it are there legally" Gawaseb added.
"There are policies, and the Constitution is there, so one should follow the necessary procedures to address the question of ancestral land claims. You cannot just chase people away," he stated.
Constitutional law expert Nico Horn, who also participated at the event, said the land conference must pass a resolution that will limit the sales of farmland to individuals for recreational purposes.
He added that the land conference must also strongly focus on urban land reform to influence faster land delivery for urban housing.
"We cannot afford to have people buying farms that can produce food for the nation to be used for recreational purposes anymore in this country [...] Urban land prices should be reduced," he proposed.
Meanwhile, National Democratic Party (NDP) leader Martin Lukato Lukato called on the land conference participants to direct that the government amends the Land Act of 1991, and to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate the land reform programme.
He also wants the Commercial Land Act of 1991 to be abolished, and that commercial land be given free of charge to those who lost land.
"The NDP proposes that a commission of enquiry be established to oversee and investigate all farmers occupying commercial farms, and land to be listed according to the number of farms and hectares people occupy, and to find out how they got the land and from whom," Lukatao said.
