By Mbatjiua Ngavirue WINDHOEK On every resettlement farm there seems to be a dominant personality whom others accuse of pushing their weight around, either by virtue of being a government employee or being politically well-connected. Even being a minor government clerk is apparently no obstacle to wielding exceptional powers on a resettlement farm. On the farm Kannabis, the dominant powers that be, are Ministry of Lands official Erastus Nghishoono’s clerk, Kakuenaa Uanivi, and her husband, Ministry of Works and Transport employee, Kaitjombiri Katjirua. The son (name unknown) of Uanivi’s neighbour, Maria Tsuos, went as far as calling Uanivi the “owner” of the farm and the person who decides how land on the farm should be divided. Relatives of Erastus Nghishoono at his farm, Schellenberg, have linked him and Kaitjombiri Katjirua to the alleged illegal removal of corrugated zinc sheets and farm gates from the government farm, Anaeib (or Anabeib). The neighbouring Glazer family are accusing Uanivi and her husband, Katjirua, of illegally erecting a fence on some of their land as part of an underhanded land-grab. The Glazer family’s farming unit officially belongs to 65-year-old Mrs Agnes Glazer. The government originally allocated the unit to her late husband, Ignatius Glazer, a retired RÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚¶ssing Uranium employee who died in 2004. The dispute with Uanivi and her husband dates back to well before the death of Glazer. While still alive, Glazer complained about a fence Katjirua had erected, which the Glazers say is not in accordance with beacons put down by the surveyors. The fence, according to the Glazers, deprived them of an area approximately 500 metres by 1 kilometre, or 50 hectares of land. Before his death, Mr Glazer complained to Katjirua about the fence on numerous occasions, but the family says Katjirua just chose to ignore their protests. The late Mr Glazer specially called the Ministry of Lands official responsible for Resettlement in the Omaheke Region, Erastus Nghishoono, to come and rectify the situation. “Look, Glazer, you had nothing and at least we have given you something. You should be grateful,” family members say Nghishoono told their late father. The daughter of the late Mr Glazer takes strong exception to this statement. “If they did him a favour, then it is no more of a favour than they did for any other resettled farmer, and it doesn’t mean they have the right to cheat him out of some of his land,” she said. Mrs Glazer alleges that Nghishoono went so far as to tell Uanivi she could divide the land at her own discretion. Doubting Nghishoono’s impartiality, they turned to his counterpart at the Ministry of Lands in Gobabis responsible for the Communal areas, Liezle McLeod. The Glazers say McLeod told Katjirua, in the presence of their father, that the fence was illegal and that he must remove it. Ignatius Glazer went to his grave without the matter ever being resolved and the family now worry that their elderly mother’s life, too, might end without obtaining justice. The government supplied all the farmers on Kannabis with PVC water storage tanks as part of its support programme for resettled farmers. The Glazers say they never received their water tank because Katjirua and Uanivi, using their connections, allegedly diverted it for their own use. He allegedly set up the first water tank the government legitimately allocated to him near the watering point he shared with neighbour, Maria Tsuos. Because of constant quarrels between Katjirua and Tsuos, Katjirua decided to move his homestead far from the shared borehole. He laid a pipeline where he wanted to build a new homestead, which is apparently why he needed another water tank. Katjirua yesterday, however, denied both the allegation of a land-grab and that of taking the Glazer’s water tank. “They are perhaps unhappy about the amount of land they were allocated, which is why they are making these allegations,” he said. He said the demarcation issue was resolved long ago to the satisfaction of the Glazers in the presence of Erastus Nghishoono and former Omaheke Governor Paul Thataone. He said he did not feel it was appropriate for him to comment on the issue of the water tank, saying the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement in Gobabis must answer that question. Agnes Glazer tells one of those stories that make people seriously question the honesty and integrity of some Ministry of Lands officials. Before the government resettled Ignatius Glazer at Kannabis, they were temporarily placed on the farm Kaukurus, originally owned by the well-known P.W. Pampe of Pampe Engineering. Not long after they moved to Kaukurus, strong winds blew down their windmill, forcing them to buy an engine to pump water, which they paid for with their own money. When time came for them to move to Kannabis, a ministry official told them that government would supply them with a new engine at Kannabis so it was not necessary for them to take their own privately-purchased engine with them. The promised government engine never arrived, and circumstances forced them to take money out of their pockets to buy a new engine. It would be interesting to know the present whereabouts of the engine they left behind at Kaukurus.