AR rattles Oshakati
AR has voiced their growing frustration over local authorities using land deals as purely business transactions, instead of assisting the landless.
KENYA KAMBOWE
It was a busy Thursday in Oshakati as the Affirmative Reposition (AR) movement held a peaceful demonstration and handed over two petitions at different offices against an Oshakati High Court judge.
The first petition was handed over at the Oshakati town council as a collective objection towards the allocation of Erf 4035 to Maphios Cheda, who is a Zimbabwean national and an Oshakati High Court judge.
AR is opposing this transaction on the basis that Erf 4035 at Extension 16, which was previously allocated to Patrick Shilongo in 2015, should not be taken away from him and given to Cheda, who is a foreign national, while there a many Namibians in need of residential erven.
Oshakati has a housing backlog of about 7 000 units.
A council letter seen by Namibian Sun dated 19 March, which was written to Shilongo, informs him that the plot that was allocated to him on 10 June 2015 was cancelled, because he could not pay it off in the allocated time period of eight months.
The letter further says that Shilongo was given an extension period after the eight months lapsed but he did not pay.
However, the Shilongo family managed to secure a home loan approval from Nedbank on 20 March to commence construction, which AR says must have been considered before Cheda was given Erf 4035.
According to the AR petition their demonstration was long overdue, because local authorities look at land as business transactions, rather than as a means to help landless people.
“What we have seen happening especially over the past 15 years is that towns have become crude agents of capitalism, dispossessing the masses of our people of their land. As agents of capitalism, towns have become the implementing agents of the ruling political and economic elites who work against the poor black people,
“This protest action here today is a classical illustration of this problematic status quo,” the petition reads.
AR looked at four areas - procedural fairness, lack of transparency, the principles of state policy and the AR 2015 waiting list.
They argue that after council was provided with information that the Shilongo family had secured funding, it should not have sold the land to another person.
On the basis of transparency, AR wants to know why the name of the judge was written in reverse and also not in full.
His name appeared in various newspaper articles as C. Maphios, while the names of other applicants were written out in full.
AR further argued that because the housing crisis is a national issue, Namibians cannot be overlooked when it comes to the allocation of erven.
The landless movement said that if council is able to confidently say there are no Namibians who can afford to pay for the plot, they are prepared to avail a list of capable Namibians.
“In 2015, many deserving Namibians have submitted their applications for plots in Oshakati. They are still waiting to hear from Oshakati town council. These applicants find it unacceptable that while they are waiting, a foreign national gets the biggest available plot at their expense. This is offending and unacceptable,” the petition further reads.
Oshakati CEO Werner Iita accepted the petition and said the document will be handed to the relevant authorities and promised to revert to AR.
After handing over the petition at council, AR continued with their march towards the Oshakati High Court to handover the document against Cheda.
They accused Cheda, who presides over civil matters, of making decisions that are not in favour of the poor.
AR referred to a particular matter between Ongwediva businessman Ben Zaaruka and Lukas Johannes.
Cheda ruled in favour of Zaaruka when he applied to interdict Johannes from continuing to utilise the land and AR has accused the judge of being biased and unfair to Johannes and his family.
International media also reported on yesterday’s protest and Judge President Petrus Damaseb, who is now handling the main court matter between Johannes vs Zaaruka postponed the case to July on Wednesday.
Deputy judiciary permanent secretary, Tousy Namiseb, accepted the AR petition at the Oshakati court yesterday.
It was a busy Thursday in Oshakati as the Affirmative Reposition (AR) movement held a peaceful demonstration and handed over two petitions at different offices against an Oshakati High Court judge.
The first petition was handed over at the Oshakati town council as a collective objection towards the allocation of Erf 4035 to Maphios Cheda, who is a Zimbabwean national and an Oshakati High Court judge.
AR is opposing this transaction on the basis that Erf 4035 at Extension 16, which was previously allocated to Patrick Shilongo in 2015, should not be taken away from him and given to Cheda, who is a foreign national, while there a many Namibians in need of residential erven.
Oshakati has a housing backlog of about 7 000 units.
A council letter seen by Namibian Sun dated 19 March, which was written to Shilongo, informs him that the plot that was allocated to him on 10 June 2015 was cancelled, because he could not pay it off in the allocated time period of eight months.
The letter further says that Shilongo was given an extension period after the eight months lapsed but he did not pay.
However, the Shilongo family managed to secure a home loan approval from Nedbank on 20 March to commence construction, which AR says must have been considered before Cheda was given Erf 4035.
According to the AR petition their demonstration was long overdue, because local authorities look at land as business transactions, rather than as a means to help landless people.
“What we have seen happening especially over the past 15 years is that towns have become crude agents of capitalism, dispossessing the masses of our people of their land. As agents of capitalism, towns have become the implementing agents of the ruling political and economic elites who work against the poor black people,
“This protest action here today is a classical illustration of this problematic status quo,” the petition reads.
AR looked at four areas - procedural fairness, lack of transparency, the principles of state policy and the AR 2015 waiting list.
They argue that after council was provided with information that the Shilongo family had secured funding, it should not have sold the land to another person.
On the basis of transparency, AR wants to know why the name of the judge was written in reverse and also not in full.
His name appeared in various newspaper articles as C. Maphios, while the names of other applicants were written out in full.
AR further argued that because the housing crisis is a national issue, Namibians cannot be overlooked when it comes to the allocation of erven.
The landless movement said that if council is able to confidently say there are no Namibians who can afford to pay for the plot, they are prepared to avail a list of capable Namibians.
“In 2015, many deserving Namibians have submitted their applications for plots in Oshakati. They are still waiting to hear from Oshakati town council. These applicants find it unacceptable that while they are waiting, a foreign national gets the biggest available plot at their expense. This is offending and unacceptable,” the petition further reads.
Oshakati CEO Werner Iita accepted the petition and said the document will be handed to the relevant authorities and promised to revert to AR.
After handing over the petition at council, AR continued with their march towards the Oshakati High Court to handover the document against Cheda.
They accused Cheda, who presides over civil matters, of making decisions that are not in favour of the poor.
AR referred to a particular matter between Ongwediva businessman Ben Zaaruka and Lukas Johannes.
Cheda ruled in favour of Zaaruka when he applied to interdict Johannes from continuing to utilise the land and AR has accused the judge of being biased and unfair to Johannes and his family.
International media also reported on yesterday’s protest and Judge President Petrus Damaseb, who is now handling the main court matter between Johannes vs Zaaruka postponed the case to July on Wednesday.
Deputy judiciary permanent secretary, Tousy Namiseb, accepted the AR petition at the Oshakati court yesterday.
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