Martin Endjala
The National Assembly has approved the appointment of four Land Advisory Reform Commission members by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform after a heated debate over the fitness of one of the members to serve on the body.
Minister Carl Schlettwein thanked the MPs for finally endorsing them.
The endorsement of the four was adjourned last week following the heated and uncompromising exchanges.
Today the chairperson of the Standing Committees on Natural Resources Kletus Karondo said the candidates fully qualified in over seeing their duties, while emphasizing that people should not be judged based on party affiliations but rather on what they can offer on the table as individuals.
The MP told the chamber that he is in agreement with the four nominated LARC candidates, attesting that he is of the opinion that based on their experience, they are well capable of carrying out their duties and advising the MAWLR in tackling its mandate.
Although the endorsement of three candidates did not have any opposition, LPM deputy leader and MP Henny Seibeb was still not convinced by the suitability of Jan Jarson.
Schlettwein stressed that the only reason that MP Seibeb has an issues with Jarson is simply because he is affiliated to Swapo. “You only have a problem with MR Jarson just because he was a former Swapo councillor,” Schlettwein opined.
Seibeb maintained that Jarson is being pushed into a position that he is not qualified for, at the expense of others, just simply because he is affiliated with Swapo.
It was on this basis that Seibeb refused to support the endorsement of Jarson, further stating that his curriculum vitae is selling a political agenda given his references to two governors who are affiliated to SWAPO as compared to the other three candidates who only focused on their professional qualification.
