Drought take toll at Oshana villages

SCORCHING heat, goats and donkeys and cattle that appear to be sniffing around the dried up flood-plains is how a day passes at several villages in Oshakati West and Okatana constituencies of Oshana region.

The villages such as Oniimwandi, Oshaandja, Otuwala, Oshihenge, Okaku, Emono and Onashiku have been hit by the drought that has taken its toll on many parts of northern Namibia.

At Oniiwandi village (3km west of Oshakati), elderly window Johanna Shigwedha lost a cow last month due to the drought. The cow, was weak, thin and unable to stand on its own.

However this was just one of many cattle which have died in northern Namibia due to drought.

“I told them to slaughter the cow while it was in a better condition but, they did not want to,” said Johanna’s first-born son, Toivo Shigwedha, when this reporter arrived at their homestead where he found three young men skinning the cow.

Junias Paskalis of Otuwala village in Okatana constituency told The Namibian that although people will not die of hunger due to drought, many cattle will perish as they are really finding it hard to survive.

“If the rain does not come soon, all the cattle will be wiped out,” said Paskalis.

However, Paskalis said he was happy that the government had pumped water into lake M’lunga and lake Uupeke (located in Uuvudhiya constituency of Oshana region, where there are a number of cattle posts) from the NamWater water canal which run from Ruacana to Oshakati.

Paskalis said he is not happy with the way drought relief food was being distributed as only some households are benefiting.

“Only four or five households are given food in a village, as they are apparently very poor than others. Some of these people did not want to cultivate their mahangu fields during the time of cultivation. They were just drinking alcohol while we were busy at work,” he fumed.

This year, many parts of Namibia received very little rain. Most communal farmers in the north did not get much from their mahangu fields.

Water bodies such as swamps and flood-plains have all dried-up. Many farmers have taken their cattle to cattle posts where there is still some grass but, they have to be given water from communal water points provided by the government.

As for the people, the government is providing drought food relief food but only to selected households where there are no people working.

The San people, vulnerable children and orphans are the people mostly being targeted by this social intervention.

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