Eviction fight heading for court

TEN families who came close to being evicted this week will remain in their shacks until a court decides their fate.

The families are members of the Hakahana Huidare Community organisation, in the Moses Garoëb constituency in Katutura, which has been split in two following a bitter fight about property instalments.The Huidare Community committee is accusing 37 members of not paying their monthly property instalments. For now, only 10 families are being targeted because the body in charge of financial matters say they can only afford to fight the 10 for now.Those facing eviction claim they no longer trust the committee leaders, who form the body that is in charge of collecting monthly contributions and paying the City of Windhoek, to deal with their money. On the other side of the coin, the committee leaders and their backers claim the group of 37 should be evicted for non-payment of rates and taxes and other fees for the land on which they have lived for the past 10 years.Yesterday, for the second time this week, the two groups faced off next to the properties and shacks. At least ten police officers were on standby to prevent the residents from fighting against the eviction. A truck was on standby to load the belongings of the evicted residents. However, human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe came through for his clients, on whose behalf he is fighting the eviction order.The police were called off, after Tjombe had managed to make a deal with the opposing legal team not to proceed with the eviction until the matter has been heard in court. Tjombe said yesterday that he will investigate the various accusations made by his clients. He could not yet confirm a court date, but has begun the legal process of opposing the court-ordered evictions. Tjombe’s clients accuse the body tasked to make the monthly property payments to the City of Windhoek of corruption.They claim that a large chunk of the money they have paid to the Huidare Community Organisation over the past ten years has gone missing and they now refuse to pay the committee directly. On the other hand, committee leaders yesterday claimed that they won an eviction order through the courts in July 2010 already, because of non-payment by 37 members of the community.’We suffer a lot due to the fact that these members are not paying their plots, and therefore we cannot pay our accounts with the City of Windhoek,’ they said.The committee yesterday claimed that they owe the City of Windhoek N$433 000. They also said their outstanding rates and taxes are close to N$160 000.Yesterday both groups admitted that during a 2007 audit of the organisation’s finances, close to N$200 000 was found missing from the fund.