Kuvee Kangueehi
29 July 2008
Windhoek — The illegal Oshiwambo-speaking herders have until August 16 to vacate the disputed grazing land of the Oukwangali area, failure of which might result in their livestock being impounded.
Government took this decision at a special Cabinet meeting last week, following a report from an inter-ministerial delegation to Oukwanyama and Ondonga Traditional Authorities.
In the report, which was tabled by the Minister of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, Jerry Ekandjo, the Oukwanyama and Ondonga Traditional Authorities overwhelmingly supported the withdrawal from the Kavango, as a matter of urgency.
The report states that the two traditional authorities believe that the withdrawal will pave the way for healthy relations among the three traditional communities.
The Government has also decided to allocate two to three farms in the Namibia Development Corporation (NDC) Mangetti farming area to accommodate impounded cattle found in the Kavango area after August 16.
Government will encourage the illegal farmers in Kavango to withdraw their cattle and to try and find grazing in Oukwanyama and Ondonga until more land is made available.
The report further states that the Ondonga Traditional Authority offered to allocate grazing land to the farmers when they withdraw from Oukwangali area.
The traditional authority, however, requested the Government to assist with the reduction of the fenced land in their traditional authority to the six-by-six kilometres as allowed by the Ondonga Traditional Authority.
The issue of illegal grazing has caused tension between the illegal herders and the Oukwangali Traditional Authority and its community over the years.
At the end of last year the Windhoek High Court granted an eviction order to the illegal farmers and warned that failure to comply with the eviction orders could earn an offender a one-year jail term or a fine of N$4000.
Some of the Oshiwambo farmers allegedly have refused to budge despite receiving eviction orders from the Kavango Land Board last year.
The Oshiwambo-speaking farmers say they have nowhere to take their cattle to, because rich farmers have fenced off large areas of the former Owamboland.
They claimed earlier that they would only move their herds if the Government and the Ondonga and Oukwanyama tribal authorities give them land in former Owamboland.
The Ukwangali people are calling on the Government to re-erect the border fence that used to separate the Ukwangali and former Owamboland areas to avoid similar grazing disputes in future.
The Government is expected to call a press conference soon to make its decision public.
The inter-ministerial delegation included the Minister of Lands and Resettlement, Alfeus !Naruseb; Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Isac Katali; Permanent Secretary of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, Erastus Negonga; Governor of the Ohangwena Region, Usko Nghaamwa, and representatives of the Namibian Police.
The delegation, which was headed by Ekandjo, visited the Queen of the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority, Martha Mwadinomho Nelumbu, and King Immanuel Kauluma Eliphas from the Ondonga Traditional Authority.
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