Illegal occupants face N$10 500 rent or April eviction from government housing

Retired civil servants make up the majority of the 200 people currently illegally occupying government houses and flats countrywide.

The illegal occupants have been given until 1 April to vacate the state properties unless they start paying rent of N$10 000 per month.

Minister of works and transport Veikko Nekundi last week instructed all illegal tenants occupying government houses to vacate the premises or risk paying up to N$10 500 per month plus 20% interest.

He announced this in a directive titled ‘Final Call – Amnesty to All Illegal Occupants of Government Houses or Flats’, dated 13 February.

The Khomas region has the highest number of illegal government housing occupants with 79, with the Otjozondjupa region having eight illegally occupied units, as well as 48 illegally occupied by retired officials.

The Kavango East region has 30 verified cases, with the ||Kharas region having 17, as well as 10 government units occupied by retired officials.

The Zambezi region features eight units illegally occupied by retired civil servants.

Ministerial adviser and manager of the public asset management agency Kristofine Naunyango says the amnesty period is intended to give all unauthorised occupants a fair opportunity to vacate government premises without penalties before enforcement begins.

“Preliminary assessments indicate that the majority of unauthorised occupations involve retired public servants and civil servants who forcefully entered the houses and flats without following proper allocation procedures, with a smaller number of cases involving illegal subletting to third parties.

“Final categorisation per occupier type will be confirmed once all regional audits are completed,” she says.

Naunyango says the directive applies countrywide, and the ministry is still awaiting updated data from the remaining regions.
“The directive applies countrywide.

The ministry manages government residential properties in all 14 regions, and the final call for amnesty and the subsequent vacation deadline of 1 April applies to all illegally and unauthorised occupied government houses and flats across Namibia,” she says.

Naunyango says the ministry will reallocate vacated properties to eligible civil servants awaiting housing allocation after the eviction deadline as well as “tighten administrative controls, including introducing a centralised digital occupancy registry to ensure transparency and accountability in future allocations.

“We will also continue regional inspections to prevent the reccurrence of unauthorised occupancy, and enforce eviction procedures in collaboration with the police and the Office of the Attorney General,” she says.

PERSISTANT ISSUE

The Namibian yesterday reported that the Ministry of Works and Transport has instructed all illegal tenants occupying government houses to vacate the premises or risk paying up to N$10 500, plus 20% interest per month.

The ministry says rent prices for one-bedroom units range from N$1 500 to N$4 500, plus 20% interest per month.

In addition, two/three-bedroom units range from N$2 500 to N$3 500 to N$10 500, plus 20% interest per month.

The Namibian has over the years reported that the occupation of government houses and flats by unauthorised tenants has been a persistent problem in the country.

The issue is not new and stems from inadequate record-keeping and lax enforcement.

A 2013/14 Ministry of Works and Transport audit found that many government quarters were occupied without formal lease agreements, with some tenants neither paying rent nor having any official documentation of occupancy.

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