WINDHOEK – Vincent Mwemba, who illegally erected several shacks in the Independence Arena in Windhoek has finally capitulated to the Friday deadline to vacate the venue.
When New Era visited the site yesterday, some tenants were busy loading their belongings onto vehicles ahead of Friday’s D-day to vacate the premises. Mwemba the Secretary General (SG) of the Oruuano Artists Union said he started removing the shacks already since last week Friday. He also told tenants not to pay rent for the month of December, because they have to find alternative accommodation. When asked when he plans to move off the premises with his wife and family of ten, he said he intends to move by the end of December.
“I am moving out of the arena end of this month. We can’t be treated like animals. They gave the eviction letter on short notice,” Mwemba complained, while denying that he was served another eviction letter already in May to vacate the premises. He still insists that he never benefitted personally from the rent he has been collecting. “I have all the records that show how I utilised the money from the shacks. Even if the Anti-Corruption [Commission] comes, I have nothing to hide. It was used to sustain the cash-strapped union.” Mwemba took advantage of the acute housing shortage in Windhoek by turning the Independence Arena, which is meant for hosting musical and cultural events, into his private cash cow by erecting several iron-sheet shacks for rent inside the arena. His illicit business activities included a flourishing eatery, which by yesterday had no customers but was still open.
The Acting Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, Dr Vetumbuavi Veii, who was unaware of the shacks in the arena, issued the eviction letter on November 26. Mwemba erected the shacks without seeking permission from government – the legal owner of the arena. The shacks had gone undetected for a long time, because they are cleverly disguised and blend in almost seamlessly with the wall of the Independence Arena. Mwemba yesterday held a press briefing where he and other union members, including the president of the artists union, Banana Shepuke announced that they would petition government, which they blame for the illegal occupancy. According to him government officials in the Directorate of Arts “should be called to task for letting the union collapse financially.” Mwemba, according to a cursory investigation charged tenants N$800 and N$1000 each month for each of the corrugated-iron shacks he erected in the arena. Since the venue has no electricity, Mwemba made use of a generator that runs from 08h00 to 15h00, and is then switched off and switched back on at 18h00 until 23h00. His restaurant serves chicken, meatballs and porridge to the public, including police officers who are among his regular patrons. Mwemba with his family of ten people live in a storeroom in the arena since his house was repossessed in 2007 over debt. The debt-saddled Mwemba has not only turned the Independence Arena into his personal cash cow, but he and his family have since 2009 been using free water and electricity at the expense of the government and by extension the tax-paying Namibian public.
New Era is in possession of a letter dated November 15, 2013 from the municipality addressed to the Oruuano Artists Union, informing the outfit that it was in arrears by at least N$235 666 from 2010 to date. “As a union we don’t have a choice but to find ways to solve them. That is why we wrote the petition to the minister of youth. We already delivered it and we plan to take it to the Head of State and also to the Labour Commissioner’s Office.” Part of their demands are that they be given financial resources to hold a national conference to review the existing arts policy and the National Arts Fund Act and to make amendments to come up with a proper policy for funding.
By Albertina Nakale