Zebaldt Ngaruka
OHAMBO JATATE – Disgruntled farmer Tjitavi Kambausuka says he has been struggling to get farmland for his cattle, and feels left out by the government.
Kambausuka, who owns close to 100 cattle, 50 goats, eight sheep and two horses, is temporarily accommodated on a 168-hectare plot at the University of Namibia’s farm Otjinakui in the Otjozondjupa region.
Kambausuka (64) recently shared his plight with New Era, saying he has applied for the government’s resettlement programme numerous times,
but no success.
“This is a worrisome situation. I am now losing hope, and do not trust the process of land allocation anymore. I tried, and the line ministry is aware of my situation,” he lamented.
What angers him the most is that despite his destitution, there are several unoccupied farms bought by the government for resettlement purposes.
He also claims that some of these 30 farms have been unoccupied for 14 years.
He understands that some of the farms are reserved for returnees from Botswana.
As a result, the farms are losing their value, while there are landless farmers.
“As a taxpayer and landless pensioner, I am not happy. This is really not fair – and one wonders where I will leave my children and family when I die without land,” he continued.
Asked what other attempts he made to get assistance in his situation, Kambausuka told
this publication that he wrote a letter to late president Hage Geingob, and was told that he was not special.
“I even wrote letters to late Otjozondjupa governor Theophelus Eiseb and Otto Ipinge – and the current one, James Uerikua, knows my circumstances,” he added.
Recently, land reform minister Calle Schlettwein complained about the exorbitant farm prices.
On this, the disgruntled farmer is of the view that the government must expropriate land in the public interest, and allocate it to landless farmers like himself.
Kambausuka then requested that President Nangolo Mbumba addresses the land question.