Land dispute at Oshakati Villagers demand fair compensation

ANGRY villagers from Ehenye village in the north of Oshakati are up in arms with the Oshakati Town Council, accusing it of grabbing their land without sufficient compensation.

Last week, the residents disrupted the official site handover ceremony of Extension One by the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) to Nexus Civil Construction Company. The NHE and Oshakati Town Council entered into a N$77 million agreement to build 357 houses at Ehenye village.But it appears that the deal came at the expense of about 54 households with approximately 500 residents, who are likely to be left homeless as a result of the development.Oshakati Town Council spokesperson Anna Ingwafa earlier told The Namibian that about 2 000 houses would eventually be built in the Ehenye area.Villager Ndapewa Kuutondokwa told The Namibian on Tuesday that the Town Council wanted to cheat the people of Ehenye.She said the Town Council told them 10 years ago that they would have to make way for development but would be fairly compensated.Apparently the Town Council then offered them N$2 000 to N$7 000 per mahangu field.Now the Council was offering very little for the land, and did not offer the villagers any other place to settle, she said.They rejected the offer at a recent consultative meeting.”Despite that we have not agreed with them, the Oshakati Town Council led by former Mayor Engelbert Atshipara forced us to move out,” said Anna Abisai, one of the oldest residents of Ehenye village.”We do not have a problem to move away, but we need fair compensation for our land that we have occupied since 1950 and paid the village headman for,” said another villager, Suama Shatumbu.”Many of us are now old.Our land, our homesteads, our animals, our traditional trees are our only properties and we cannot just give them up.We also do not have other places to stay.The whole former Owambo is fully occupied, and there are just no other places for us to go and stay.We cannot go and stay in the desert, because you cannot plough and plant your mahangu in the desert and there is also no grass and water for our animals,” said Shatumbu.Foibe Iikela told The Namibian that in November last year, some villagers were taken to the desert area south-west of Oshakati by the Town Council and the Head of the Uukwambi Traditional Authority, Herman Iipumbu, apparently to choose where they want to go and live after leaving Ehenye.”We told them that we cannot live in such a desert area.They have to find a proper, suitable place for us and our animals,” Iikela said.Shalongo Nuuyoma told The Namibian that the Town Council sent officials from the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement in November last year to evaluate their homesteads and mahangu lands without consulting them.Apparently the Town Council told the villagers that the Permanent Secretary of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, Erastus Negonga, would inform them about the new development.This meeting took place on August 27 this year.According to Nuuyoma, the villagers told Negonga that they did not want compensation based on the valuations done by the Ministry of Lands, but wanted their land to be divided into plots and sold at the same price the Town Council charges for plots.Apparently Negonga told them that he would discuss their proposal with higher authorities and come back to them with an answer.This never happened and to the villagers’ surprise, part of their village was handed over to the developers on September 23 without them having reached any agreement with the Town Council.Nuuyoma said the villagers held a meeting last Sunday to discuss the new development.They decided to remove the surveyor’s pegs marking off the area to be developed and gave them to their headman, Armas Iwete.”The Oshakati Town Council is really not treating me and my people fairly.We want fair compensation for our land, and if not, then I will stand with my people, and will not go out from our lands we lived on for many years,” Headman Iwete told The Namibian on Tuesday.Town Council spokesperson Ingwafa maintained, however, that the villagers had agreed to move away.She said many meetings had been held with them, and last year they agreed to move and accept compensation based on the Ministry of Lands valuation.”They never told us that they want compensation based on the tariffs the Town Council asks its customers to pay,” Ingwafa said.Ingwafa said the villagers could stay on, as long as they gave part of their land to the Town Council.She said the Council would compensate them for their mahangu fields and service their plots, and all they had to do was to pay for the services rendered.The NHE and Oshakati Town Council entered into a N$77 million agreement to build 357 houses at Ehenye village.But it appears that the deal came at the expense of about 54 households with approximately 500 residents, who are likely to be left homeless as a result of the development.Oshakati Town Council spokesperson Anna Ingwafa earlier told The Namibian that about 2 000 houses would eventually be built in the Ehenye area.Villager Ndapewa Kuutondokwa told The Namibian on Tuesday that the Town Council wanted to cheat the people of Ehenye.She said the Town Council told them 10 years ago that they would have to make way for development but would be fairly compensated.Apparently the Town Council then offered them N$2 000 to N$7 000 per mahangu field.Now the Council was offering very little for the land, and did not offer the villagers any other place to settle, she said.They rejected the offer at a recent consultative meeting.”Despite that we have not agreed with them, the Oshakati Town Council led by former Mayor Engelbert Atshipara forced us to move out,” said Anna Abisai, one of the oldest residents of Ehenye village.”We do not have a problem to move away, but we need fair compensation for our land that we have occupied since 1950 and paid the village headman for,” said another villager, Suama Shatumbu.”Many of us are now old.Our land, our homesteads, our animals, our traditional trees are our only properties and we cannot just give them up.We also do not have other places to stay.The whole former Owambo is fully occupied, and there are just no other places for us to go and stay.We cannot go and stay in the desert, because you cannot plough and plant your mahangu in the desert and there is also no grass and water for our animals,” said Shatumbu.Foibe Iikela told The Namibian that in November last year, some villagers were taken to the desert area south-west of Oshakati by the Town Council and the Head of the Uukwambi Traditional Authority, Herman Iipumbu, apparently to choose where they want to go and live after leaving Ehenye.”We told them that we cannot live in such a desert area.They have to find a proper, suitable place for us and our animals,” Iikela said.Shalongo Nuuyoma told The Namibian that the Town Council sent officials from the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement in November last year to evaluate their homesteads and mahangu lands without consulting them.Apparently the Town Council told the villagers that the Permanent Secretary of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, Erastus Negonga, would inform them about the new development.This meeting took place on August 27 this year.According to Nuuyoma, the villagers told Negonga that they did not want compensation based on the valuations done by the Ministry of Lands, but wanted their land to be divided into plots and sold at the same price the Town Council charges for plots.Apparently Negonga told them that he would discuss their proposal with higher authorities and come back to them with an answer.This never happened and to the villagers’ surprise, part of their village was handed over to the developers on September 23 without them having reached any agreement with the Town Council.Nuuyoma said the villagers held a meeting last Sunday to discuss the new development.They decided to remove the surveyor’s pegs marking off the area to be developed and gave them to their headman, Armas Iwete.”The Oshakati Town Council is really not treating me and my people fairly.We want fair compensation for our land, and if not, then I will stand with my people, and will not go out from our lands we lived on for many years,” Headman Iwete told The Namibian on Tuesday.Town Council spokesperson Ingwafa maintained, however, that the villagers had agreed to move away.She said many meetings had been held with them, and last year they agreed to move and accept compensation based on the Ministry of Lands valuation.”They never told us that they want compensation based on the tariffs the Town Council asks its customers to pay,” Ingwafa said.Ingwafa said the villagers could stay on, as long as they gave part of their land to the Town Council.She said the Council would compensate them for their mahangu fields and service their plots, and all they had to do was to pay for the services rendered.