Amupanda sets land grab ultimatum

More than 50 000 landless youth in Namibia are ready to grab land if land is not provided to them by en July 2015.

This was revealed by youth activist Job Amupanda in an interview with Nampa on Friday.

“Presently, there are more than 50 000 landless youth activists prepared to take the land. If the leaders did not solve the land issue by 31 July 2015, I will tell our people all over the country to grab land and set up their houses,” said the suspended Swapo-Party Youth League (SPYL) spokesperson.

Distancing himself from the land grab currently underway in Swakopmund, Amupanda said 'Affirmative Repositioning' is and has become the only viable option for people to force the authorities to give them land.

President of the Christian Democratic Voice party (CDV), Gotthardt Kandume is spearheading the land seizure in Swakopmund, where about 200 residents are currently marking plots illegally.

“Those in charge of providing land have been zigzagging on the matter due to greed, corruption and nepotism. They should not make a mistake thinking that the land issue is just an Amupanda issue. If they do not give land to our people they will take it by themselves,” Amupanda told this agency.

He indicated that he assessed the land situation in Swakopmund and intends to meet with the town municipality very soon to discuss ways for mass land applications next year.

Amupanda was recently voted by a local newspaper as one of the newsmakers for the year 2014.

He attracted media attention following the 'Affirmative Repositioning' initiative, during which he and two other youth seized municipal land in Windhoek's Kleine Kuppe suburb in November this year.

Amupanda also led a massive demonstration when thousands of youth and the landless marched to the Windhoek Municipality to hand in applications for land.

So far, 14 059 of those demonstrators have receive letters of acknowledgement from the City of Windhoek. (The Namibian, Windhoek)