Some villagers countrywide claim they have not received their share of the 334 wild animals slaughtered by the government to feed starving citizens affected by the drought.
The government last year announced a plan to slaughter wild animals as part of a raft of measures to deal with drought – the worst to hit Namibia in 100 years.
Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda confirmed the number of slaughtered animals last week.
“By the end of 2024, a total of 334 out of 723 game animals identified for culling were hunted. This consists of 77 blue wildebeest, 34 eland, 46 plain zebra, 50 impala, 60 buffaloes, 24 hippos and 43 elephants.
This translates to 155 525kg of meat produced and supplied. The culling and distribution is still ongoing,” he said.
The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) last year said 331 000 households had been registered countrywide to receive drought-relief food aid.
Towards the end of August last year, the environment ministry announced that 30 hippos, 60 buffaloes, 50 impala, 100 blue wildebeest, 300 zebra, 83 elephants and 100 eland from the country’s national parks and communal areas with sustainable game numbers would be killed.
‘ONLY TINNED FISH’
Hilaria Iyambo from Enguwantale village in the Oshana region says her household only got tinned fish for relish this month.
“However, I heard Onamavo and Omeege villages in Oshakati East constituency were given meat,” she says.
Aminuis constituency councillor Peter Kazongominja yesterday said: “We have not received any game meat. We get our normal drought-relief food – a bag of maize meal, tinned fish and cooking oil.”
Hiskia Erastus and Getrud Andreas, both from Olunkavu village in the Omusati region, say they have not received meat either.
“We got tinned fish, cooking oil and a bag of maize meal.”
Etayi constituency councillor Hans Haikali last week said his constituents received game meat last year.
“They got it once in October or November. It was enough meat,” the councillor said.
But two residents of the Aranos and Omatjete areas in the Hardap and Erongo regions, respectively, last week said they have not received game meat or drought-relief food since last November.
Okorukambe constituency councillor in the Omaheke region Rocco Nguvauva says his constituency has not received game meat as part of their drought-relief food either.
Councillor Western Muharukua from the Opuwo rural constituency says he has heard about the culling of wild animals last year, but the residents of his constituency are yet to receive this meat.
He says his constituency only received game meat in 2021.
‘ENOUGH FOR ONE DAY’
Rundu Rural constituency councillor Paulus Mbangu last week said his constituency has not received game meat either.
“We have been receiving beef from Meatco as part of the drought-relief food,” he said.
Ndonga Linena councillor Michael Kambota yesterday said his constituents have been receiving beef on a monthly basis since last year.
Bitto village headman in the Sibbinda constituency of the Zambezi region, Vincent Kalikanwi, says drought-relief beneficiaries at his village only received 1kg of game meat per household last November.
He says the meat lasted only a day. A Kaenda villager, also in the Zambezi, says he received the same kilogram of game meat in November, with nothing after that.

CLARITY
OPM executive director I-Ben Nashandi says the distribution of game meat serves as a complementary source of protein and not a comprehensive solution for all registered beneficiaries.
“… even in the previous drought programmes and it has never been enough for every drought-registered beneficiary,” he says.
Nashandi says donated resources are allocated to regions based on available quantities, the number of beneficiaries, the product’s shelf life and available logistical facilities for immediate distribution.
He says between July and September 2024, the OPM collaborated with Meatco Namibia’s Rundu and Katima Mulilo abattoirs to process and package game meat into 1.5kg packs.
Nashandi says by October last year, the Rundu Abattoir had processed 21.569kg of game meat, equivalent to 14 380 packs.
These were distributed to 14 380 households in the Oshana region.
This decision was made due to limited cooling space in the Kavango East and West regions, where warehouses were already filled with monthly allocations of fresh beef. Even in the Oshana region, where the monthly food allocation is to 18 500 households, the game meat supply was insufficient, he says.
The Katima Mulilo Abattoir processed 22 974kg of game meat (14 822 packs), distributed to an equal number of households in the Za
mbezi region.
Other households received fresh beef.
ZAMBEZI GAME ONLY EATEN IN ZAMBEZI
According to Nashandi, game meat from the Zambezi region could not be transported to other regions due to restrictions under the Animal Health Act of 2011, which regulates animal movement from foot-and-mouth disease infected zones.
Elephant meat distribution followed protocols set by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, restricting distribution to conservancies where the animals were hunted.
Nashandi refutes claims that communities received game meat only once, saying the limited quantities meant supplies lasted only a month or two in some cases, often supplemented by fresh beef.
He says the standard drought-relief food basket includes a 20kg bag of maize meal, mahangu or rice, tinned fish, soya mince, beans, or beef/game meat and cooking oil.
The OPM is not aware of beneficiaries receiving only 1kg of game meat instead of the intended 1.5kg, he says.
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