NUST to Hold Online Course and Master Class on Land Governance and Corruption in Africa

Africa requires significant capacity-building efforts to adopt and implement all available good land governance practices, policies and instruments. The capacity building needs encompass staff training within national lands ministries, academic institutions, development agencies and the private sector on land governance in Africa.

The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), which coordinates the NELGA Southern Africa Hub is putting in place an open-source online course on land governance and corruption in Africa to meet these needs.

According to NELGA Southern Africa Coordinator and the Head of Department for land and Property Sciences at NUST, Prof. Mutjinde Katjiua, “The course is mainly intended to increase access to land governance education and training in Africa. It is expected to raise awareness of the complex causes and effects of corruption, particularly in Africa’s land sector. Doing so will strengthen the integrity, public accountability, and responsibility within the land industry.” He opined that land professionals in various stages of their career will benefit from this course as it equips them with the tools, tactics and networks that help tackle land corruption issues. They would also be provided with an accessible platform to reflect on their personal moral and the development of their collective professional ethics.

Professionals working both in the private and public land sector are expected beneficiaries of the online course. This includes National Anti-Corruption Commission officials, academia in land-related practices and town planning, officials of Ministry of Lands, private land surveyor, valuation surveyors, property developers, urban and rural planners, and non-governmental organisations land sector as well as development agencies working with national governments.

The course is based on a blended learning format consisting of two phases: an online course and a masterclass follow up phase. The online course will consist of videos, reading material and quizzes to fully engage with course participants. It is designed to be taken at any time of the year, and it will be accessible via NUST NELGA Southern Africa hub website (http://nelga.nust.na/). Participants will need to spend 4-6 hours per week on the online course up to a total of 36 hours in 4 weeks.

The masterclass will be delivered in the format of the trainer of trainers, which will provide course participants with thorough knowledge of the principles of good land governance and the adverse effects of corruption in both the private and public sector. This format will allow for deeper interaction with tutors and for the participants to share their experiences in a 3-days seminar set-up.

Further details like registration links and course materials for the online course and application requirements for the masterclass will be shared as the launch date approaches.