Elizabeth Hiyolwa
MANGETTI_II – A sprawling cattle farm in the Kavango West region, under the care of the Namibia Industrial Development Agency, has been abandoned with livestock roaming around unattended while infrastructure has deteriorated.
Kavango West Regional Council chairperson Joseph Sikongo was shocked to witness rotten cattle carcasses lying around at a water point, at what seems to be yet another abandoned project in the region.
The regional council’s surprise visit to Cattle Post 40 of the Kavango Cattle Ranch, uncovered the sad state of affairs as unattended livestock roamed around the muddy water point in dire need of water, feed and care.
The council staff have visited all eight constituencies in the region to assess developmental needs.
The farm, which comprises 38 camps primarily for livestock production, is administered by NIDA. There are over 10 000 cattle on the farm and about 70 employees.
A visibly upset Sikongo, venting his discontent, said it is a painful reality to see livestock in a deplorable condition with no grazing at all.
“No employee is looking after these cattle that are dying here. The employees were removed from the camps to the centre in Mangetti because of elephants that are roaming around. I don’t know what this industrialisation is all about or is it what was called development when cattle do not have water, do not have feed or no one is employed to manage the camps?” he asked in disgust.
He expressed his disappointment with the board of directors that they never visited the farm despite the exchange of several official communiqués by the farm manager.
“I am challenging the Ministry of Finance, under which the public enterprise department falls, to come and witness. These are State cattle that are dying like this,” the chairperson fumed.
He further stressed that this is a very painful story as Kavango West is rated the poorest region.
“This is what makes Kavango West poor because if the farm was managed as before,
this is what can boost the Namibian economy. We are an agricultural region but unfortunately NIDA is disappointing us,” he argued.
Acting head of agribusiness at NIDA, Walter Sirongo said the reason why employees moved from the camps to the centre is because one employee lost his life while another narrowly escaped an elephant attack in 2020.
He further stated that a technical committee comprising of employees of NIDA and from environment ministry was established to develop a strategy on elephant-cattle management that will allow cattle production to continue while elephants are also being accommodated.
* Elizabeth Hiyolwa is an information officer in the MICT.