Katima Mulilo
Exiled Namibian Joseph Muchali wants a house he once occupied under the alienation scheme, from which he claims his family was evicted when he fled the country.
Muchali, who is exiled in Canada, skipped the country’s border into Botswana and was eventually resettled in Canada, following the failed Caprivi secession attempt in 1999, in which he was implicated.
The house that Muchali wants the town council to return to him is on plot number 280 in Ngweze location in Katima Mulilo.
Muchali was offered political asylum in Canada, where he resides with his family, after he was implicated in a plot to separate the then Caprivi Region from Namibia.
No less than 132 people were indicted in the secessionist uprising, of which 35 have since been cleared of all charges, following the earlier discharge of a number of suspects. The remaining 30 were found guilty of high treason.
Muchali raised the issue of the house from which he was evicted in a letter to Katima Mulilo chief executive officer (CEO), Charles Nawa.
Muchali says the house was allocated to him in 1993 by the town council’s housing committee. An official document to support this assertion was seen by this reporter, written as far back as 1993, specifying the location of the house and the attached conditions, signed by the then Katima Mulilo town clerk Boniface Mutumba.
Other letters of complaint were written by Muchali’s wife, Elvira Muchali, addressed to the predecessor of the current town council and to the permanent secretary of the ministry of regional, local government and housing – as the rural and urban development minstry was known until recently.
Muchali says the house from which he was evicted holds sentimental value for him, as it used to belong to his father and it is where his siblings were raised. He wrote that when his father retired as a civil servant the house was allocated to him and he was set to benefit from the alienation scheme, whereby a minimal transfer cost was payable before the property could be registered in his name.
“Like all Namibian citizens residing in those houses, I was set to benefit from the alienation scheme. My wife and I qualified to have the house legally transferred to us as our own property. Unfortunately, when August 2, 1999 happened, I fled the country fearing persecution. Just about the same period of August/September 1999, my wife was unsympathetically kicked out of the then Caprivi Region,” Muchali wrote.
He alleged that Katima Mulilo Town Council (KMTC) specifically mistreated and targeted his wife, who had remained at the house after Muchali fled to Canada in August 1999.
“While the KMTC treated my wife as a foreigner in the Caprivi, they protected all other wives of people who were alleged to be ringleaders of the secessionist plot. The KMTC did not touch the property of any of the alleged perpetrators, but did that to my family,” he protested.
Muchali further accused Katima Town Council of cronyism, alleging the concerned house was later allocated to a family member of an employee of the council.
Some members of Katima Mulilo Town Council “harboured hate, compounded by jealousy, and took my house away and unprocedurally gave it to a family member of the KMTC, depriving my family of the same opportunity,” he complained.
According to Muchali, following the humiliation of being dispossessed of their property and the humiliation that ensued at the height of the secessionist campaign, his wife also left for Canada to join him – leaving his now late father to negotiate with Katima Town Council.
“With the departure of my wife, my late father, Lawrence Muchali, took over the case with KMTC where a number of promises were made, but to no avail. My father died in 2007, still hoping that justice would be done. My other siblings took over and we were waiting for an amicable solution, which under former KMTC CEO Dr Vincent Sazita looked promising,” he said.
Muchali pleaded with the current CEO of Katima Town Council, Nawa, to resolve the issue urgently, as his rights have been violated and giving him back the house would restore his dignity.
“The issue of the unfair and illegal manner in which my rights as a Namibian citizen were downtrodden have resurfaced. My family counts on you to restore our human dignity and make us hopeful to live in an inclusive and democratic Namibia,” he stated. Nawa has confirmed that he received the letter of complaint, but added that Muchali had plenty of time to buy the house – even before the 1999 uprisings took place, considering that the first alienation scheme introduced as far back as 1992.
“Ngweze houses belong to the town council and the Alienation Act came out in 1992. It was only around N$100 payable back then for the property to be transferred. Mr Muchali was staying there for a long time and when 1999 happened he fled the country and unfortunately his wife did not also stay long, as she asked for a transfer to Rundu,” Nawa said.
“So whoever occupied the house after that qualified to own the house under the alienation scheme,” he further explained.
Oddly enough, Nawa stated that the person who was left to take care of the house on behalf of Muchali is the same person who bought the house under the scheme, adding that the house had fallen victim to vandalism and, therefore, council had no choice but to sell it.
“The person who bought the house does not work for council, nor is he a relative. He met all the requirements under the alienation scheme. Just imagine the time period given to Mr Muchali from 1992 to 1999 when the Caprivi secessionist story happened,” Nawa noted.
He said the house in question was not the only abandoned house that was sold, as council looked at whether the property was occupied and taken care of. He however promised to look into the matter in order to find an amicable solution.
“It’s not an isolated case. We are going to investigate. If we find that the family indeed was evicted – as he claims – we might find an alternative plot, or compensate him. If not, then unfortunately our hands are tied,” Nawa concluded.