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Beware the Zimbabwe Style
Wezi Tjaronda, New Era (Windhoek)
July 19, 2004

http://allafrica.com/stories/200407191311.html

THE Southern African Federation of the Disabled (Safod) has urged Namibia not to follow the Zimbabwe style of land acquisition, as it would not benefit people with disabilities.

Safod Secretary General, Alexander Phiri told policy-makers, politicians, traditional leaders and local authority councillors gathered at a launch of this year's Disability Awareness Campaign (ABC) on Friday that following a chaotic way of land expropriation would leave out some sectors of the society.

"As you allocate land, don't follow the Zimbabwe example. Don't do it the chaotic way as disabled people won't have it if you grab land," said Phiri.

He advised that grabbing land would end in poor people getting poor lands while their rich counterparts would get the top lands.

"Disabled people also need land, and please assist them to acquire land," he added.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the National Federation of People With Disabilities in Namibia (NFPDN), Martin Tjivera, says although the struggle for liberation was also for land, the majority of disabled people remain landless.

Tjivera urged the Namibian government to put disabled people on the waiting list of the resettlement programme.

He said land expropriation should be implemented in the public interest and in line with relevant laws, procedures and requirements as decided by Parliament without further delays.

So far, the programme has resettled 29 people with disabilities according to the Director of Resettlement, Mukwaita Shanyengana.

The country has over 85 500 disabled people.

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