Outjo residents have threatened a mass demonstration if the municipality fails to allocate promised residential plots by the end of August.
Residents say they have grown frustrated after waiting several years for land they were promised once the new council took office.
Outjo Residents Association (ORA) member and property practitioner McKay Losper told The Namibian on Sunday the dispute centres around the allocation of residential plots in the /Urib Extension.
“If there continues to be no meaningful action, we don’t want a diplomatic response anymore.
They must just say go and take the land. If there is no action, we will take to the streets in a radical and militant protest,” he warned.
Losper said residents were invited about three or four years ago to pay N$350 to reserve residential plots, with more than 900 applicants complying. He added that some applicants paid the full N$4 500 purchase price.
Despite this, the majority are yet to receive plots or clear communication on when allocations will be made.
Losper said former acting chief executive Immanuel Tjipura had previously explained that the township still required surveying and subdivision before land could be allocated.
“People are asking why payments were collected for plots that were not yet ready for allocation,” Losper said.
He also questioned claims that surveying remains outstanding, alleging that some applicants who registered later had already received plots.
“If the plots still needed surveying and subdivision, how come some individuals got allocations?” he asked.
Losper said repeated engagements with the municipality have yielded little progress, adding that access to land is an issue that cuts across political parties.
He said representatives from the ORA, the United Democratic Front, the Independent Patriots for Change, the Landless People’s Movement and Swapo all pledged during last year’s election campaign to improve access to land.
“The people have been patient. They have followed the proper channels. They have waited. But patience must never be mistaken for weakness,” he said.
Municipality spokesperson Kizzy Dudu-Murorua says the allocation process has been delayed because the previous tender for surveying work was cancelled over irregularities.
She says the municipality is re-advertising the tender and allocations will begin once a surveying company has been appointed and surveying completed.
“We know land is a sensitive issue and we are not denying people land because we want to.
These are processes that must be followed,” she says.
Dudu-Murorua says residents had already been informed about the delays and that a meeting scheduled for today, followed by additional engagements, would address the matter.
She clarifies that the initial application fee was N$750, covering registration costs, although many applicants only paid N$350.
One of the affected residents, Johannes Oxurub, says the prolonged wait has become unbearable.
“We have been waiting for many years.
I paid N$350 and still no land has been allocated,” he says.
Oxurub also urges the municipality to improve communication by using loudspeaker announcements in residential areas, saying many households lack access to radio, television and smartphones because they do not have electricity.
