Outapi
An urgent mediation meeting has for now quelled the grazing dispute between the Otjijeura Traditional Authority in Kunene and the Uukwaluudhi Traditional Authority in Omusati. Livestock owners from the two traditional authorities have been competing for small areas, which have not yet been ravaged by the current drought, to graze their livestock.
At the meeting the chiefs representing either side were advised to refrain from discussing boundary matters, with the mediators saying such issues are being addressed at national level.
The Uukwaluudhi Traditional Authority has been accusing the Otjijeura Traditional Authority of not following the procedures put in place to acquire grazing permission in the Uukwaluudhi area.
The Otjijeura Traditional Authority has however been adamant that grazing rights cannot be discussed in isolation without discussing the boundaries between the two tribal areas, which it feels are skewed, hence they cannot ask for permission to graze in an area that is within their jurisdiction.
At the meeting held yesterday in Outapi the Governor of Kunene, Angelika Muharukua, and the Governor of Omusati, Erginus Endjala, along with the Uukwambi Chief Ndilimani Iipumbu, as the deputy chairperson of the Council of Traditional Leaders, managed to have the chiefs of the two traditional authorities reach an agreement.
The outcome of the meeting was that the two traditional authorities set up a committee to resolve grazing disputes, and implement measures on how the two traditional authorities would assist each other on grazing during the drought.
“If land disputes are not handled properly, they can cause havoc and cause civil war.
Remember we are one person in one house,” cautioned Endjala who called on the two traditional authorities to exercise patience when addressing land disputes.
“Do not turn people back to where there is no food. Instead, relocate people where grazing is better,” said Muharukua.
The meeting also resolved that the committee and ensure that farmers who engage in cross-regional grazing obtain permission from the traditional authority in whose area they intend to move their livestock.
It was also resolved that while grazing remains a concern, the committee should look at the consequences of grazing in conservancy areas where the herders and livestock are prone to attacks by wild animals.
Chief Ndilimani Iipumbu of the Uukwambi Traditional Authority called upon the chiefs of the two authorities to uphold peace in their communities.
“If we do not have peace the community will not have peace,” said Iipumbu.
Iipumbu also advised the chiefs to refrain from looking at who is grazing in whose area but to address the effects of the drought.
Another meeting is scheduled to take place soon in Opuwo to address the same issue. Governor Muharukua advised the two authorities against turning each other away at the grazing areas. She said that in instances where a farmer is to be relocated because of insufficient grazing at an area of choice, that too should be accepted.