Bitter fight looms over Oshikoto farmland
More than 200 settlers are facing eviction at Okolo in the Onalusheshete district after two powerful northern personalities approached the Oshikoto Communal Land Board to privatise the land they claim to have been occupying for 20 years.
The settlers say they have lived on the 2 593-hectare piece of land since 1996.
Last year, northern businessman Samuel Namwele and former Okaku constituency councillor Joseph Endjala claimed that the land was a private farm belonging to them.
The settlers told Namibian Sun they became aware of the problem on 3 July last year when a newspaper advertisement was placed, listing the names of leasehold applicants. Their land was included in the list.
“I first arrived at this place in 1996. I found a few cattle posts, but the whole area was still virgin land. I also set up my post and others started coming.
“Later we were informed that the area was a private farm which was established by a man who had died and apparently a family member was claiming the farm. We never saw anybody until we saw the advertisement in the newspaper,” said one person who did not want to be identified.
Upon investigation, Namibian Sun was informed that Okolo was established as a farm in 1985 by the late businessman Mathew Elago, but he never settled there.
He died in 2008. After seeing the advertisement, the settlers wrote to the communal land board in July last year, objecting the granting of the leasehold to the applicants.
They alleged that the applicants had obtained the land documents in an unethical way from the senior headman for Onalusheshete, Eino Shondili Amutenya.
The farm is currently divided into two parts, with Endjala claiming 1 235 hectares while Namwele claims the other 1 358 hectares.
On 12 October last year, the chairperson of the Oshikoto Communal Land Board, Sointu Angula-Mupopiwa, advised the settlers to approach the Ondonga Traditional Authority to clarify the ownership issue and provide the board with relevant documents before 30 November. The complainants requested the board to give them until yesterday to clarify the matter.
When contacted for comment, Namwele said that he and Endjala purchased the farm from the late Elago in 2006 and they only found seven settlers there at the time.
He said before they bought it, Elago had already returned the land to the Ondonga Traditional Authority.
Namwele further claimed that when they first bought the farm they could not settle there because the former senior headman for Oniimwandi district, Boas Mweendeleli, opposed the granting of rights to the farm.
“We applied for the farm from the traditional authority and were granted permission to farm by both the authority and the king. You can go and ask Shondili (Amutenya) and the king. They are the ones who gave us permission to farm at Okolo,” Namwele said.
He said the number of settlers increased sharply after a soldier stationed at the Grootfontein military base started settling other soldiers there.
“When we bought the farm there were only seven settlers until a certain Kwambi soldier settled there and started allocating land to his fellow soldiers from Grootfontein. We have our farm documents signed by the Ondonga king, Immanuel Kauluma Elifas,” he said.
“The number of settlers is increasing because when we bought the farm the former senior headman for Oniimwandi did not want us to settle until the king appointed Amutenya who gave us the go-ahead.”
Defiant
For his part, Endjala said no matter what it took, the settlers must vacate the land.
“Even if it costs us an arm and a leg, we will get our farm back and these settlers have to vacate. Those people are lying and have to go… we have all the necessary documents. That soldier who was chased away from Kavango is the one who settled all those people into our farms,” Endjala said.
Endjala also accused the settlers of vandalising boreholes on the land.
The settlers said they came to the area on their own.
They believe that the size of the human and livestock populations of the farm justifies giving it village status.
The OTA directed all inquiries to Amutenya, who could not be reached for comment.
ILENI NANDJATO
The settlers say they have lived on the 2 593-hectare piece of land since 1996.
Last year, northern businessman Samuel Namwele and former Okaku constituency councillor Joseph Endjala claimed that the land was a private farm belonging to them.
The settlers told Namibian Sun they became aware of the problem on 3 July last year when a newspaper advertisement was placed, listing the names of leasehold applicants. Their land was included in the list.
“I first arrived at this place in 1996. I found a few cattle posts, but the whole area was still virgin land. I also set up my post and others started coming.
“Later we were informed that the area was a private farm which was established by a man who had died and apparently a family member was claiming the farm. We never saw anybody until we saw the advertisement in the newspaper,” said one person who did not want to be identified.
Upon investigation, Namibian Sun was informed that Okolo was established as a farm in 1985 by the late businessman Mathew Elago, but he never settled there.
He died in 2008. After seeing the advertisement, the settlers wrote to the communal land board in July last year, objecting the granting of the leasehold to the applicants.
They alleged that the applicants had obtained the land documents in an unethical way from the senior headman for Onalusheshete, Eino Shondili Amutenya.
The farm is currently divided into two parts, with Endjala claiming 1 235 hectares while Namwele claims the other 1 358 hectares.
On 12 October last year, the chairperson of the Oshikoto Communal Land Board, Sointu Angula-Mupopiwa, advised the settlers to approach the Ondonga Traditional Authority to clarify the ownership issue and provide the board with relevant documents before 30 November. The complainants requested the board to give them until yesterday to clarify the matter.
When contacted for comment, Namwele said that he and Endjala purchased the farm from the late Elago in 2006 and they only found seven settlers there at the time.
He said before they bought it, Elago had already returned the land to the Ondonga Traditional Authority.
Namwele further claimed that when they first bought the farm they could not settle there because the former senior headman for Oniimwandi district, Boas Mweendeleli, opposed the granting of rights to the farm.
“We applied for the farm from the traditional authority and were granted permission to farm by both the authority and the king. You can go and ask Shondili (Amutenya) and the king. They are the ones who gave us permission to farm at Okolo,” Namwele said.
He said the number of settlers increased sharply after a soldier stationed at the Grootfontein military base started settling other soldiers there.
“When we bought the farm there were only seven settlers until a certain Kwambi soldier settled there and started allocating land to his fellow soldiers from Grootfontein. We have our farm documents signed by the Ondonga king, Immanuel Kauluma Elifas,” he said.
“The number of settlers is increasing because when we bought the farm the former senior headman for Oniimwandi did not want us to settle until the king appointed Amutenya who gave us the go-ahead.”
Defiant
For his part, Endjala said no matter what it took, the settlers must vacate the land.
“Even if it costs us an arm and a leg, we will get our farm back and these settlers have to vacate. Those people are lying and have to go… we have all the necessary documents. That soldier who was chased away from Kavango is the one who settled all those people into our farms,” Endjala said.
Endjala also accused the settlers of vandalising boreholes on the land.
The settlers said they came to the area on their own.
They believe that the size of the human and livestock populations of the farm justifies giving it village status.
The OTA directed all inquiries to Amutenya, who could not be reached for comment.
ILENI NANDJATO
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