Foreign nationals will not be allowed to own land in Namibia anymore if a proposed bill is passed by the parliament in the country, reports the Namibian.
The Land Bill of 2016 forbids foreigners from owning agricultural, commercial and communal land.
Proposed by Namibia’s lands Minister Utoni Nujoma, the bill combines Agricultural Commercial Land Reform Act of 1995 and the Communal Land Reform Act of 2002 which prohibits acquisition of agricultural land by foreign nationals.
According to the Minister foreign nationals own 281 farms in the country
Although the bill gives room for foreigners to own land in towns; since a bill seeking to ban foreigners from owning urban land was rejected last year by the National Council according to the Namibian.
Additionally farm owners will be obliged by law to first offer to sell the land to the government before selling it elsewhere.
For proper implementation of land tax and the skyrocketing land prices, the bill proposes a review of the land valuation and taxation regulations of 2007.
The new bill provides for any person aggrieved by the decision of a chief or traditional authority or any other land board to submit their appeal to the lands tribunal. The lands tribunal is currently limited to the determination and adjudication of land issues on commercial farms. However land administration committees will be established in areas with unrecognized traditional authorities in order to solve land allocation issues, said the report by the Namibian.
“The committees will decide on the allocations of communal land to fast-track land registration as part of the programme to provide secure tenure in communal areas,” said the Minister
With the complex issue of fencing communal land in the country, the acceleration of registration process will make life simpler for most.
