Tin town sold for a song

A GROUP of Uis residents are up in arms after it emerged that almost the entire village has been sold to a private individual.

According to documents shown to The Namibian, the majority of the town land now belongs to a certain Albert Weitz of Namib Base Minerals, who bought the land for N$630 000 from the previous Village Council – with the blessing of the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing – in 1996. As a result, any developer, investor or even a resident of the mining town 120 km west of Omaruru who wants to buy prime land must bargain with Weitz and not the Council.To add insult to injury, the Village Council had to buy back land from Weitz to build their offices.’DEFIES LOGIC’ “It clearly defies logic, let alone common sense.How can this portion of land that is highly economical be sold for this price? In fact, are we saying that those residing in Uis currently are residing on an individual’s property and that if he so chose, they can be told to leave,” said Joseph Kauandenge of the Namibia Democratic Movement for Change (NDMC).A group of unhappy residents approached the NDMC to raise awareness about the questionable deal.John Gariseb, a spokesperson of the Uis group, said they approached NDMC after repeated calls for assistance from traditional and other political leaders fell on deaf ears.Their last attempt was made last Saturday, when Minister of Local Government John Pandeni was at Uis to check on the progress of capital projects funded by the Government.Gariseb said Pandeni only met with the Village Council and nothing was discussed about the fate of the town’s land which was in the hands of an individual.”Despite earlier confirmation that we could meet the Minister, we were told that it was not the case.When we decided to have a peaceful demonstration in front of the Village Council building to make the Minister aware of the case, the Police told us that we needed to notify them three days in advance,” Gariseb said.’VERY SERIOUS’ Elijah Ngurare, personal assistant to Pandeni, confirmed their visit to Uis and said the issue was brought to the Minister’s attention.”It is receiving his serious attention.It is a very serious issue and the Minister will meet the Village Council and other key people very soon,” Ngurare said.Another senior official in the Ministry of Local Government said they were working around the clock to reclaim the land because it was an abnormal situation.Kauandenge said both the previous council and former Local Government Minister Dr Nickey Iyambo had not consulted the community before selling the town land to Weitz.Deputy Permanent Secretary Erica Ndiyepa signed the documents on behalf of the Ministry.Kauandenge said that in the process, “the souls and minds of 3 000 Uis residents were sold to the gates of hell without looking at the immense consequences of such a decision”.He said by signing off on the land Government had sold its own people to a foreigner “who does not care a hoot about their welfare”.Kauandenge said they would provide the material to the Anti-Corruption Commission today and call on the institution to investigate the dubious sale of the land.”We want to know who sold the land and for what price? Did somebody get a kickback because of the low price?” he said.As a result, any developer, investor or even a resident of the mining town 120 km west of Omaruru who wants to buy prime land must bargain with Weitz and not the Council.To add insult to injury, the Village Council had to buy back land from Weitz to build their offices.’DEFIES LOGIC’ “It clearly defies logic, let alone common sense.How can this portion of land that is highly economical be sold for this price? In fact, are we saying that those residing in Uis currently are residing on an individual’s property and that if he so chose, they can be told to leave,” said Joseph Kauandenge of the Namibia Democratic Movement for Change (NDMC).A group of unhappy residents approached the NDMC to raise awareness about the questionable deal. John Gariseb, a spokesperson of the Uis group, said they approached NDMC after repeated calls for assistance from traditional and other political leaders fell on deaf ears.Their last attempt was made last Saturday, when Minister of Local Government John Pandeni was at Uis to check on the progress of capital projects funded by the Government.Gariseb said Pandeni only met with the Village Council and nothing was discussed about the fate of the town’s land which was in the hands of an individual.”Despite earlier confirmation that we could meet the Minister, we were told that it was not the case.When we decided to have a peaceful demonstration in front of the Village Council building to make the Minister aware of the case, the Police told us that we needed to notify them three days in advance,” Gariseb said.’VERY SERIOUS’ Elijah Ngurare, personal assistant to Pandeni, confirmed their visit to Uis and said the issue was brought to the Minister’s attention.”It is receiving his serious attention.It is a very serious issue and the Minister will meet the Village Council and other key people very soon,” Ngurare said.Another senior official in the Ministry of Local Government said they were working around the clock to reclaim the land because it was an abnormal situation.Kauandenge said both the previous council and former Local Government Minister Dr Nickey Iyambo had not consulted the community before selling the town land to Weitz.Deputy Permanent Secretary Erica Ndiyepa signed the documents on behalf of the Ministry.Kauandenge said that in the process, “the souls and minds of 3 000 Uis residents were sold to the gates of hell without looking at the immense consequences of such a decision”.He said by signing off on the land Government had sold its own people to a foreigner “who does not care a hoot about their welfare”.Kauandenge said they would provide the material to the Anti-Corruption Commission today and call on the institution to investigate the dubious sale of the land.”We want to know who sold the land and for what price? Did somebody get a kickback because of the low price?” he said.