Kavango Governor disturbed by land grabbing by wealthy

RUNDU – The Kavango Regional Governor Maurus Nekaro is disturbed by the ongoing land dispute, grabbing of land and allocation of land illegally to those with wealth at the expense of the poor.

The governor’s remarks follows verifications by the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement that the size of communal land that Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Tjekero Tweya fenced off is 2 935 hectares.Tweya fenced off the communal area in the Shamungwa village of the Kavango Region’s Mukwe Constituency late last year in order to set up his own farm. This was despite the fact that the Communal Land Reform Act prohibits the fencing-off of communal land.Speaking during the inauguration of Communal Land Boards for the Kavango and Caprivi regions at Rundu on Monday, Nekaro appealed to land administrators to administer land equitable and fairly in line with existing legislation to make sure that the users obtain land within the confines of the law. ‘I am urging the Land Board and Traditional Authorities to tackle the illegality of land issues head on to make sure that the country’s laws are implemented without fear and favour,’ he stated. According to him, doing so will demonstrate that communal land is not for self-gratification or personal gain at the expense of many others. The governor then appealed to the Land and Resettlement Ministry to avail resources in both the Kavango and Caprivi regions in order to develop communal areas.Meanwhile, Lands and Resettlement Minister Alpheus !Naruseb said during the Land Board inauguration that as per the Communal Land Reform Act of 2002, no one should be allocated more than 20 hectares of communal land, and said those who are having more than that are doing it against the law. The Lands and Resettlement Minister called on the Traditional Authorities in the region to encourage their subjects to adhere to laws governing the country.Half of the area that Tweya allegedly fenced off has been registered and gazetted as part of the Shamungwa Conservancy. The Land Ministry’s verification was done on 25 January this year, following directives from the Office of the President after Tweya’s alleged fencing off of communal land was reported in the media in January.According to reports obtained from the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement made available to Nampa, Tweya fenced off land that is surrounded by 10 villages.Villagers of the area claimed that the fencing-off of communal land by the deputy minister denies their own cattle access to grazing land, and also denies them access to wild fruit, which they depend on. – Nampa