Hundreds face eviction from Katima Mulilo farm

About 100 families living at Katima Farm, situated at Wenela Compound in the Zambezi Region, are defying an order by the Zambezi Regional Council to vacate the area. The deadline of the eviction was March 31 but the families refused to move and threatened to demonstrate at the council offices if Governor Lawrence Sampofu does not halt the process. According to Wenela Compound chairperson Albert Sitali, they suspect their eviction is linked to government plans to start a Green Scheme project at Katima Farm. Sitali told Namibian Sun that the families have been occupying their houses since the early 1990s. He said a dispute between the regional council and Katima Mulilo Town Council about the area’s title deed has resulted in municipal services being cut off. “If it is true that the government wants to set up the Green Scheme at the farm, they should leave us to continue occupying these houses as we are former labourers of Katima Farm. “We are in such a limbo but are hopeful because the governor’s offices promised to meet with us, in the presence of some local and regional councillors, so we can find an amicable solution to this situation,” Sitali said. “It is our wish that the platform will also be used to sort out the confusion of who really owns the area, as this has left us without access to municipal services until the matter is rectified.” Meeting tomorrow Sitali voiced concern at how their intended eviction is being handled by Chief Regional Officer Regina Ndopu-Lubinda and the chairperson of the town council’s management committee, Ralph Mbala, who have never met with the families to explain the government’s intentions for the area. “We are demanding to know why we are being bullied out of our homes. Ndopu-Lubinda and Mbala have never met with us to personally tell us why we should move but instead they used the police to deliver the eviction orders. “This is the second eviction order. The first one was issued in January 2014, which instructed the families, along with their children, to vacate the houses or face forced removal by the local police, but we ignored it. “This is why we will remain defiant the second time around,” Sitali said. Attempts to get hold of Ndopu-Lubinda proved futile while Mbala was attending a meeting out of town yesterday. Sampofu acknowledged that he will be meeting with the families tomorrow but said he could not divulge any information until after the meeting. “I will be having a meeting with all of them on Wenesday. You can call me then so I can shed light on what is the way forward,” said Sampofu.