MBAMBI – While celebrating belated Independence Day at Mbambi village, Festus Shikerete, the senior traditional councillor of the Gciriku Traditional Authority, informed Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila that they foresee severe scarcities of food and will need government to assist the communities.

Shikerete said after visiting various villages, he noticed that their fields have no promising plants due to poor rains and marauding elephants that continuously fed on their crops.

“We have a big problem regarding drought. We received less rain especially in the hinterland where I visited last week, I saw the mahangu fields of our inhabitants very dry with nothing to harvest, elephants also helped themselves on the little that could have been harvested,” Shikerete said.

Usually, this is the time that communities would reap what they sow but there are no harvest activities as there is nothing in the fields.

Shikerete also reported that marauding elephants did not spare the Gciriku jurisdiction and they have also noticed a big problem with the alarming human wildlife conflict in the area including along the river which is also their source of food.

“We make a living through tilling our fields, if you look at the river, just a week ago at Shitemo village, a hippo attacked a man who later died in the Rundu hospital where he was rushed to. We really have a big problem we don’t know if we will survive this year,’’ he said. 

Since the PM came down to celebrate the belated independence celebrations with the vaGciriku, Shikerete believed she will inform government departments on the challenges in the area.

“You came down to us as the head of government administration. I hope you will take this first-hand information and do something about it because we don’t know if our people will survive the drought this year, we don’t know what they will eat. And the issue of human wildlife conflict that has engulfed our communities,” he said.

“Right honourable prime minister, I want you to take this news from here and go spread it within government, including parliament. Thank you for coming to celebrate with us on this belated independence celebrations,” he noted.