Pensioner's land idle

A pensioner from Kaguni village in Kavango East has not ploughed his land for the past three years, as he has no cattle and cannot afford to hire a tractor.

While driving along the Rundu-Mururani B8 road, about 20km from Rundu, Namibian Sun came across Immanuel Fundula and his family recently, who were seated in front of their homestead.

A welcoming Fundula was in the company of his wife, Maria, and two children of their children, John and Ruth.

John, who is a Grade 9 learner, acted as a translator during the interview.

Fundula, who is a father of 17, explained he is struggling to make ends meet with his N$1 250 pension grant, which he uses to sustain his family.

He said he has never secured formal employment and only worked as a herder on farms across the country.

“Growing up, I just looked after other people's cattle to make a living or I would cut poles and sell them, in order to take care of my family. However, I cannot do that anymore because of my age,” Fundula said.

Despite having a piece of land, situated away from his homestead, he does not have the means to make it productive and feed his family.

He said he previously relied on a family member's cattle to plough his field and harvest mahangu and maize, but because the cattle died three years ago, due to hunger, he was unable to continue working his field.

When asked why he does not make use of a tractor, Fundula said it is difficult to obtain one around Kaguni and they are also expensive to hire.

He said he cannot pay the hourly rate of N$500 to hire a tractor, with his monthly pension grant.

Fundula explained his financial situation is so bad he has had to take drastic measures, like not travelling with his wife to Rundu when she goes shopping, in order to save on taxi fare costs.

“It is not just about going to town, but any other place which is far. Transport is expensive and that's why we decided that only one person travels at a time, to save costs,” Fundula said.

He said having two meals per day is rare and there are days he and his family have to go to bed with empty stomachs.

“Money is a problem. As you can see my wife is busy extracting the contents from the Omagongo, in order to make oil which we will put in our meat. We sometimes just eat what they call Monkey Oranges and go to sleep, and I hope this answers your question as to how life is in Kaguni village.”

Fundula said he does not consume alcohol, as he has seen how his peers have turned out.

“I see my friends and family members who drink alcohol and none of them are healthy or in a good mental state. I just believe that alcohol makes you crazy and for a person like me, who survives on his monthly grant, I am not reckless to spend my money on alcohol, which will contribute nothing to my life but will rather destroy it.”

When asked whether they receive any assistance from government, Fundula said in the past they used to receive food parcels, but not anymore.

John also shared how difficult life is, saying he was unlikely to go back to his school hostel, as his parents do not have the N$300 fee.

He attends Maria Mwengere Secondary School, which is situated about 60km from Kaguni.

When asked why he was not enrolled in Rundu, which is only 20km away from Kaguni, John said children from villages were often not accepted at “town schools”.

John said Mathematics is his favourite subject and he is determined to become a teacher.

“I am not ashamed of my parents or being from a poor family, but one day is one day, and I will take care of my family,” he said.

John added they are waiting on his elder brother, who went to Noordoewer in the //Karas Region to search for a job

He said his brother did not secure enough grade 12 points to qualify for university entry.

“My brother went to go look for a job because he wants to make money and upgrade his points and go to university.”

KENYA KAMBOWE