GOBABIS: Despite various education and information campaigns on the registration of communal land rights at Aminuis in the Omaheke Region, the process is yet to yield desirable results.

Aminuis Constituency Councillor Erwin Uanguta in an interview with Nampa yesterday admitted that the programme, which falls under the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, has not been received well by farmers in the area.

Communal farmers, according to Uanguta, do not see the importance of the initiative, opting instead not to register with the relevant authorities for the programme to take shape.

Many farmers are apparently under the impression that registering for communal land rights, popularly known as the ‘20 hectare scheme’ will lead to them forfeiting their chances of qualifying for resettlement on commercial farms, he said.

Aminuis is yet to reach the set number for registration of communal land and according to officials at the regional office based at Gobabis, the constituency has been a major obstacle in the smooth running of the registration of communal land rights there.

Only 1 018 land rights have been verified and issued in the region to date, far less than the intended target, and the line ministry has set February 2014 as the deadline for the registration of land rights country-wide.