A REHOBOTH land deal signed by vice president Nangolo Mbumba, when he was the agriculture minister 24 years ago, continues to be a nightmare to the government.
The land, surrounding the Oanob Dam outside Rehoboth, is the site of more than 30 luxury homes, many belonging to Namibia’s business and political elite.
The houses overlook Lake Oanob, a popular location for canoeing, aqua-cycling and boat parties, and an upmarket Lake Oanob Resort. The land is the subject of a bitter ownership dispute between Acasia Resorts and the Rehoboth Town Council, which is currently before the High Court.
At the heart of the battle is the agreement signed by Mbumba (representing the government) and Acasia Resorts in November 1994, which the Rehoboth Town Council is now rejecting.
Mbumba, as the agriculture minister at the time, agreed to lease out over 4 300 hectares (equal to around 4 300 football fields) for 50 years, with an option to renew for another 50 years at N$12 000 a year, and an annual increase pegged to the inflation rate.
Besides building a resort, Acasia divided the area into plots, and leased them out to individuals for millions of dollars for decades.
Acasia was registered two years before Mbumba signed the deal. Its largest shareholders were Swapo supporters and businessman Christie Benade, and Sandra Tjitendero, the deceased wife of Namibia’s first parliamentary Speaker, Mose Tjitendero.
The Namibian understands that NamWater has been concerned about the sewage from the houses built near the dam, while there are also concerns that town planning procedures were not followed.
None of the lessees The Namibian interviewed disclosed how much they are paying in rent, but an expert valuator said the land’s proximity to the lake increases its value.
Acasia refused to say what it is currently paying in rent, and to who.
However, using official inflation statistics, The Namibian estimates that it could now be paying a maximum of just N$54 300 a year.
Benade, currently the majority shareholder, refused to answer The Namibian’s questions, saying the newspaper must ask the judge of the High Court what lessees are paying.
The deal was propelled into the public eye after the Rehoboth Town Council sold part of the land to a private company, Oanob Dax Investment CC, for a housing project.
Acasia reacted by suing the company, Oanob Dax Investment CC, the council, the Rehoboth deeds office, the registrar of deeds and the government, among others.
The deeds authorities have been drawn into the dispute because they refused to register Acasia’s lease.
Details of the 1994 lease – including its length and the modest rental – are revealed in Cabinet papers and other documents tabled in court.
Mbumba responded to detailed questions with a “no comment”.
Acasia wants the High Court to block Oanob Dax’s plans to construct a township of 167 housing units on Farm 1127, which Acasia says falls within its lease area.
Responding to Acasia’s court application, the Rehoboth council says there is no legal relationship between itself – as the owner of the land – and Acasia.
“The purported agreement being relied upon by [the] plaintiff was signed with a third party not authorised by the first defendant [the council],” it says in its court papers. Acasia, therefore, has no legal standing to bring the application.
The council added that it owned the land in 1994, and still does.
“The minister [Mbumba] and Cabinet had no right or authority in law to have signed and/or to have taken the decision referred to in the purported agreement,” the council said.
It added that the lease agreement should have been signed in terms of the Local Authorities Act to be legally binding. The council also objects to the fact that since 1994, Acasia had been sub-letting plots to third parties without the right to do so.
The company which wants to develop the disputed area is also linked to other Swapo politicians.
Alfred Stephanus Dax, the owner of Oanob Dax and also a Swapo politician, said the company bought the land from the Rehoboth Town Council, and that the purchase took three to four years to complete.
Acasia was formed in October 1993, with hotel dealer Ivan Drotsky as the sole director, but more names were later added to the directors.
In 2004, the directors were listed as Benade, pharmacist Nico Dunn, business consultant Eric Knouwds, and printing entrepreneur the late Dimitrio Metzler, who drowned in a boating accident on Lake Oanob in 2006.
