Siegfried Tjehiua, the chairperson of the self-proclaimed Okakarara Residents Association Fighting for Development, has rebuffed claims that they are a group of anarchists and land grabbers, saying their call for land is a genuine appeal that has nothing to do with politics.
For months now, the Okakarara Town Council has been at loggerheads with the town’s residents over the occupation of prime land which was originally designated for the construction of Namibia Shack Dwellers’ Federation (NSDF) houses and other major projects by the council.
Plans are afoot to serve the residents with eviction notices. But the hundreds of residents, who have been camping for months now at the prime piece of land, situated in the vicinity of the Kambazembi Traditional Authority offices at the town, claim that they were left with no choice but to occupy the portion of land as their continued requests for land allocation kept falling on deaf ears.
ORAFD’s frontman Tjehiua, sharing his complaints with New Era, strongly maintained that alleged assertions by the town’s leadership that they are a group of provocateurs and organised land grabbers are devoid of any truth and are meant to divert attention from the real issues. “When they [town council leadership] use those kinds of words, they should be careful that there are legal connotations to such statements. We are not land grabbers and they should stop trying to mix our genuine plea for land with their internal politics. Ours is a clear call for help and they too know that we have been landless for over 30 years now,” said a peeved Tjehiua. “We have held countless meetings with the town’s leadership since early last year and have even put various proposals forth to them on the issue of making land more affordable to the town’s most destitute residents, but nothing has happened. There are no jobs here in Okakarara and we have been saying please make land more affordable to us who are unemployed. We have school-going children and can’t continue living under these conditions.
“Last year, they were telling us that the only available plots were selling for a minimum of N$14 000 and upwards. But we contested that the price was too high and not many of us will afford to pay that amount as we are unemployed and only survive from ad hoc jobs. So, we were left with no choice but to move our families to the current piece of land and at least ensure that our kids are a bit closer to schools and other basic services.”
As an alternative, council has since made a new piece of land on the outskirts of town available where the over 500 disgruntled residents can move to and set up homes. The new plots, according to Tjehiua, were offered to the residents for a price of N$5 000 per plot. But the residents have not yet fully agreed to move there as they feel that the new piece of land is too far from town and council has also not yet installed basic services such as water and electricity at the new plots.
“They must be truthful with us and the public. We have not refused to move to the new plots, we have basically said they must first connect basic things like community water taps and some street lights. Even a mobile clinic and police station will do while we settle there. The new plots are about three kilometres out of town and that’s very far for school children to walk every day but we have said it’s fine, we will move once those services are taken there,” he said.
Meanwhile, Okakarara mayor Asnath Jazukuka, in an interview with NBC, said about 200 residents have finally agreed to move to the new plots while the remaining over 270 have since refused to budge until their demands are met.
New Era understands that council has since taken a decision to serve the remaining group with eviction letters through its lawyers, and stands ready to rope in the police if need be.
Tjehiua said they are aware of council’s plans to forcefully evict them through lawyers and with the assistance of the police, but he maintained that they remain unfazed in their pursuit for land. -ohembapu@nepc.com.na