Ongwediva
A coordinator of the Land-a-Dollar campaign says her group is commonly mistaken for the Affirmative Action (AR) group, but the two groups are not affiliated in any way and simply have no connection.
Ester Uushona said the Land-a-Dollar campaign is run by a group of youth volunteers who are raising funds to help meet government halfway in servicing residential land.
“The president has given us 200 000 plots, but they need to be serviced. That is how this group – which was initially started by the youth from the University of Namibia – came up with this initiative,” Uushona said.
Land-a-Dollar places drums at various shopping centres and malls countrywide to invites shoppers to donate one Namibia dollar or more to the cause, by placing their donation in sealed drums.
But at times the group has apparently been mistaken for the controversial AR group and from time to time people have accused them of being a political movement.
“People ask if they would find their names listed somewhere, fearing they would be linked to Affirmative Repositioning. Some ask if they should write their names down somewhere, but we are just a group of youth that want to do something for our country. We don’t keep records of names.
“The nation must understand that by donating a dollar, you have helped a friend, a neighbour, a relative, or yourself to get a piece of [serviced] land,” she said. At the end of the campaign all the drums will be collected and taken to State House to be unsealed. “The seals, will be removed only at State House in the presence of auditors from Pricewaterhouse Coopers to ensure transparency,” Uushona explained.
The group has placed drums at Swakopmund and in Windhoek and is currently active in the northern towns of Ongwediva, Oshakati and Ondangwa.