Man fights for land lost in 1990s
14 September 2017 | Local News
Petrus Nambinga from Okapya village outside Oshikuku has accused the government of not compensating him when he lost part of his land 22 years ago to pave way for development.
The 43-year-old said he lost large tracts of land when the Oshikuku-Okalongo road was constructed on his property.
Nambinga told Namibian Sun that he had tried all avenues to seek clarity and restitution on the alleged loss of land from the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Roads Authority (RA), but his efforts yielded nothing.
Nambinga said he was given the land by his father when he was a teenager, before the construction of the road in 1995.
This, he said, explains why he was not present when the road was constructed as he was still in school in Oshakati.
He further said no one in his family claimed compensation on his behalf.
“No one in my family, not even my late father, was compensated,” Nambinga said.
The works ministry constructed a five-kilometre tarred road from Oshikuku while the rest of the 30-kilometre road up to Okalongo remained a gravel road for many years.
Only in 2010, the government, through the RA, started tarring the road.
Nambinga says he has not been compensated for the land, which he claims had fruit trees and was fenced.
“My fence was removed without any compensation to make way for the road which was constructed there. In the process my fruit trees were destroyed as well as part of my grazing land,” Nambinga said.
“I went to their offices many times and I was told that all people were compensated but when I ask about my compensation, they do not say much.”
He said he also tried to meet with the RA but he got no response to the letters that he wrote.
Oshikuku constituency councillor Modestus Amutse, in a letter dated 8 May 2017, asked the RA to investigate Nambinga's case, which he said had been dragging on since 1995.
When Namibian Sun contacted RA spokesperson Hileni Fillemon, she referred all questions to the works ministry, saying the road in question had been built before the RA was established.
“The RA became operational in the year 2000 and the road in question was not constructed by the RA. All compensation was done by the Department of Transport then which is now the Ministry of Works and Transport. Kindly take this up with the ministry,” Fillemon said.
The spokesperson in the Ministry of Works, Julius Ngweda, did not respond to questions emailed to him last week.
KENYA KAMBOWE
The 43-year-old said he lost large tracts of land when the Oshikuku-Okalongo road was constructed on his property.
Nambinga told Namibian Sun that he had tried all avenues to seek clarity and restitution on the alleged loss of land from the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Roads Authority (RA), but his efforts yielded nothing.
Nambinga said he was given the land by his father when he was a teenager, before the construction of the road in 1995.
This, he said, explains why he was not present when the road was constructed as he was still in school in Oshakati.
He further said no one in his family claimed compensation on his behalf.
“No one in my family, not even my late father, was compensated,” Nambinga said.
The works ministry constructed a five-kilometre tarred road from Oshikuku while the rest of the 30-kilometre road up to Okalongo remained a gravel road for many years.
Only in 2010, the government, through the RA, started tarring the road.
Nambinga says he has not been compensated for the land, which he claims had fruit trees and was fenced.
“My fence was removed without any compensation to make way for the road which was constructed there. In the process my fruit trees were destroyed as well as part of my grazing land,” Nambinga said.
“I went to their offices many times and I was told that all people were compensated but when I ask about my compensation, they do not say much.”
He said he also tried to meet with the RA but he got no response to the letters that he wrote.
Oshikuku constituency councillor Modestus Amutse, in a letter dated 8 May 2017, asked the RA to investigate Nambinga's case, which he said had been dragging on since 1995.
When Namibian Sun contacted RA spokesperson Hileni Fillemon, she referred all questions to the works ministry, saying the road in question had been built before the RA was established.
“The RA became operational in the year 2000 and the road in question was not constructed by the RA. All compensation was done by the Department of Transport then which is now the Ministry of Works and Transport. Kindly take this up with the ministry,” Fillemon said.
The spokesperson in the Ministry of Works, Julius Ngweda, did not respond to questions emailed to him last week.
KENYA KAMBOWE
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