By Mbatjiua Ngavirue
The dispute between Ministry of Lands and Resettlement official Erastus Nghishoono and the two tenants on his resettlement farm Schellenberg, Ben Aluendo Enghali and Josef Enkali, took a new turn yesterday.
Ben Enghali, also locally known as Shinime, says a policeman arrived at his shop yesterday with a paper summoning him to the Gobabis police station.
When he arrived at the police station, the officer allegedly informed him that Erastus Nghishoono had laid a charge against him.
According to Enghali, the police requested him to make a statement concerning the dispute between him, his brother and Nghishoono.
After he informed the police he would only make a statement in the presence of his lawyer, they asked him to sign a document to that effect.
But the station commander at Gobabis police station denied that Enghali was ever at Gobabis police station yesterday, or that anyone ever laid a charge against the Enkalis.
To add even more mystery to the affair, the station commander on duty at Gobabis police station yesterday afternoon flatly refused to disclose his own name.
Enghali however insists there were several witnesses that saw the police arrive at his shop, and saw him at the police station.
The dispute between the Enkali’s and Nghishoono arose because of Nghishoono’s attempt to evict them from his resettlement farm Schellenberg No. 79, where they have farmed for the past five years.
The Enkali’s however refused to leave the farm, claiming that Nghishoono told them they were occupying the farm with the consent of the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement in Windhoek.
The disagreement turned particularly ugly after the Enkali’s confronted Nghishoono with evidence that he was also allowing absentee white farmer Adriaan Nigrini to farm on Schellenberg.
According to Enghali, Nghishoono begged them not tell anyone about Nigrini’s cattle on the farm saying, “Please don’t tell the Hereros or the governor, or I will be in serious trouble.”
Sources who wish to remain anonymous, but who are unrelated to the Enkali’s, have raised further serious allegations against Nghishoono.
According to these sources, Nghishoono has allegedly been using a vehicle donated by the Spanish government to the Drimiopsis and Skoonheid Resettlement Project for his own private business.
The vehicle is apparently a Toyota 2.0 litre bakkie with the Windhoek registration number N 85595 W.
The people at Drimiopsis and Skoonheid could apparently not make use of the vehicle because none of them has a driver’s licence – leading Nghishoono to commandeer the vehicle for his own use.
They allege that since Nghishoono only has 11 cattle and 30-40 goats on Schellenberg, his main source of farm income is a shebeen he runs on the farm.
He allegedly regularly gave the vehicle to an employee of his, Matheus, to transport liquor up and down between Gobabis and the farm.
People at Drimiopsis have regularly complained about why the vehicle seems to spend most of its time in Gobabis, instead of Drimiopsis where it is supposed to be. People saw the vehicle in Gobabis as recently as yesterday.
Things however allegedly turned disastrous for Nghishoono when Matheus overturned the pickup on one of his excursions.
Local sources say that to cover up the accident, Nghishoono quietly gave the vehicle in to the local company MechCiv of Paul Dunaiski for repairs.
When Dunaiski presented him with the repair bill of N$29 000, Nghishoono apparently could not pay.
The most serious allegation made is that to get out of this predicament, Nghishoono awarded Dunaiski a N$50 000 government contract to work on a dam at his farm Schellenberg, in lieu of payment for repairs to the bakkie.
Why MechCiv was given the job of repairing the vehicle is not clear, because the company is primarily a mechanical and civil engineering contractor as the name implies.
Around midday yesterday, a very hesitant Dunaiski confirmed his company repaired the vehicle but claimed the cost of repairs was closer N$10-12 000 than N$ 29 000.
He said he could not give exact details as his bookkeeper – his wife – was attending a Ministry of Trade and Industry workshop in the town.
He further confirmed that he was recently awarded a N$ 50 000 government contract to build a dam at Schellenberg.
When approached for comment yesterday Nghishoono first launched into a long tirade against the New Era reporter, and accused Enghali of having a personal agenda against him.
He said he was writing his own report to the Minister and Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, as well as the Anti-Corruption Commission.
His last words to the reporter were, “You can write about the car, you can write about the dam, but we will meet at the Anti-Corruption Commission, my friend.”
Contacted for comment, the Secretary to Deputy Minister Isaac Katali said he (Katali) had referred the reporter to the office of Frans Tsheehama, the Permanent Secretary. However, Tsheehama was not available the whole day yesterday.