Namibia's Russian farm deal facing legal action

In the latest development relating to the controversial decision to lease four farms to Russian billionaire Rashid Sardarov, a Namibian farmer who has been living in the corridors of the farms for 15 years, is threatening to sue the government. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Windhoek last week agreed to lease the land for 99 years, a move that has been described by opposition parties as a ‘modern-day land grab’. The ‘unanimous’ decision was approved by Cabinet. The farms are valued at $2.9m. The Namibian reports that farmer Asser Katjinaani, who owns more than 300 livestock, has been applying to be resettled for 15 years, but has not been successful. His lawyer, Norman Tjombe, stated that his client planned to challenge the government in the High Court over the Russian deal ‘because it is in violation of various provisions of several laws of Namibia’. Tjombe also requested the deeds office to make all documents relevant to the transaction available to the public.