OMARURU: Over 100 members of the Omaruru Homeless People’s Association gathered near the Welwitschia settlement in Omaruru on Saturday to occupy land which they claim belongs to them.
The group’s chairperson, Nambee Upendura Domingo, told Nampa in an interview that the members can no longer live in their parents’ houses, as there is enough land in town that can be allocated to them so they built their structures.
According to Domingo, they have waited for too long for the municipality and council to make land available to them.
“We are not grabbing land, we are merely occupying ancestral land that belongs to us. Our move to occupy land was necessitated by the delay from our municipality and council for not availing land while we continue living in our parents’ houses with our kids and husbands,” she said.
Domingo accused the municipality and councillors of corruption, saying they have outsiders who have been allocated land in Omaruru, while locals are left out.
“We have identified enough land in Omaruru and have registered over 800 people raised in the town, but they still do not have land, despite paying the municipality N.dollars 25 for over five years for the allocation of land,” said Domingo, who added that locals are confused about why they keep paying the municipality when nothing is happening.
The group’s spokesperson, Lukas Nyumbu, also told this agency that the challenge they are currently facing is the lack of honesty from their leadership in Omaruru.
“We were asked in 2016 to apply for land in Omaruru, which we did, but have not received any feedback. Omaruru has a high number of unemployed youth, and some of them have now turned 40 years old and are still accommodated in their parents’ houses,” Nyumbu said.
Nyumbu claimed that there is a lot of nepotism when it comes to the municipal council, saying only those close to them benefit, and they would like to see this council removed.
The Omaruru Homeless People’s Association stated that all they need is land now, and services can come later.
Community members plan to hand in a petition to the council on Wednesday.
Efforts to contact both the Chief Executive Officer of Omaruru, Valentinus Sindongo, and Mayor Vincent Kahua were unsuccessful, as calls went unanswered.
Recently, Erongo Governor Neville Andre Itope intervened in a similar situation at Arandis, where residents with similar grievances also threatened to illegally occupy land.
Itope expressed dissatisfaction with the poor service delivery in the town, noting that leaders fail to communicate and consult with residents properly. He urged leaders in general to end this and to start engaging with residents more effectively.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency