Abstract:
Since independence in March 1990, the unequal distribution and ownership of land as a
leftover of colonial-era dispossession and appropriation has been a major issue of
sociopolitical contestation in Namibia. This article summarises the structural colonial
legacy and the efforts made towards land reform. Reference points are the country’s first
national land reform conference in 1991 and the second national land reform conference
in October 2018. The analysis points to the contradictory factors at play, seeking to
contextualise land reform in between the colonial legacy of racial discrepancies and
ethnicity as well as class, as more contemporary influencing factors.
