Residents occupying land at Onawa Extension 7 at Oshakati have refused to vacate the area despite a removal deadline issued by the Oshakati Town Council.
Samuel Ashoongo, the spokesperson for the 112 owners of illegal structures, told The Namibian yesterday that they will not leave unless the municipality provides alternative land or resettlement.
The town council has maintained that the occupants are unlawfully occupying municipal land and has rejected their appeal to suspend or cancel the removal notice.
The residents submitted a petition to the council on 17 September, appealing for a humane and fair solution to the proposed removal.
In the petition dated 14 September, the residents cite poverty, unemployment, homelessness, the presence of children and a lack of affordable accommodation as some of the reasons they should not be removed without an alternative arrangement.
However, Oshakati mayor Leonard Hango says the council considered the petition during a special council meeting on 23 September and resolved to maintain its earlier decision.
In a written response dated 24 September and addressed to Oshakati chief executive Timoteus Namwandi, Hango reaffirms the validity of the final 14-day removal notice issued on 12 September.
The notice requires the occupants to voluntarily remove their structures by 28 September.
NOT GOING ANYWHERE
Despite the deadline passing, residents have remained on the land.
Ashoongo told The Namibian yesterday that none of the occupants had removed their houses.
“None of us has removed his or her house. We are not going anywhere if the council does not resettle us… we will not leave this place.
We will not demolish our houses. Where are we going to stay if we demolish our houses? Tashiya nashiye ashike (we are not scared whatsoever),” Ashoongo said.
The residents’ position sets the stage for a potential confrontation with the council, which has warned that failure to comply could lead to civil court proceedings.
UNLAWFUL OCCUPATION
Hango says the structures were erected and the land occupied without municipal approval.
“The numbering of structures was undertaken for identification and administration only,” he says.
He says the numbering exercise did not constitute land allocation, approval, ownership or permission to occupy the land.
According to Hango, continued occupation and the construction of additional structures were undermining the council’s efforts to formalise land, upgrade informal settlements, provide municipal services and assist low-income households through orderly relocation programmes.
The mayor says the council could not allocate the land to residents simply because structures had already been erected there without authorisation.
“Council cannot allow the occupation of land outside approved procedures to become a basis for a further allocation,” Hango states.
EVICTION THREAT
Hango warns that if the occupants fail to comply with the removal notice, the council could approach a civil court seeking their eviction and the restoration of the land to its previous condition.
He also advised residents to follow the established procedures for applying for land from the Oshakati Town Council instead of occupying municipal land without approval.
The council says it had engaged with the occupants for several months before deciding to proceed with enforcement.
According to the municipality, officials began engaging the residents in June.
This was followed by written communication, a structure-numbering exercise in July and a community meeting held on 12 September.
The mayor says the council’s approved relocation programmes had included assistance such as free plots, discounted water connections and free electricity connections for qualifying households.
The council, however, says it could not allocate land at Onawa Extension 7 outside its approved procedures.
Hango has also cited the site’s flood risk and the approaching rainy season as additional reasons for proceeding with enforcement.
