Linea Dishena 

VENDORS at the Okahandja woodcarvers’ craft market are refusing a municipal decision to be relocated to an envisioned site along the newly-constructed Windhoek- Okahandja carriageway. 

Speaking to Nampa recently, group leader Petrus Ndumba said they have been operating at the site since 1991, and this has earned them a woodcraft landmark status in the town for tourists. Therefore, a new site will retard their business, he stressed. Ndumba stated that the market has a total of 150 registered operators in temporary makeshift structures currently, as the land they are operating from is owned by government. However, the vendors under the Namibia Woodcarvers CC have written several letters to the municipality to lease the land or buy it to allow for the construction of a proper craft market. 

“They want to take bread straight out of our mouths… we are not going anywhere. Whatever comes must come, but we are not going anywhere. We have been staying here for 30 years now, and the tourists know the market at this site,” Ndumba reiterated. 

He added that they got the open land, Erf 155, to operate from in 1991 through late former minister Joel Kaapanda, noting that the 150 vendors operate here under his registered company name, Ndumba CC 1. Gideon Kaarus, who has been selling at the site since 1996, said the municipality’s decision is not ideal for them and their businesses. He thus suggested that the municipality should rather build proper craft markets at the site with ablution facilities, or allow them land rights to build themselves. 

In an interview with Nampa, the Okahandja municipality’s chief executive officer Alphons Tjitombo said there are discussions underway for the vendors to be relocated due to the changes to which the council is being subjected, of which one is the newly-constructed dual carriageway and the provision of ablution facilities. 

“The idea is to take them to a more visible area along the dual carriageway road, which is taking up most of the traffic from inner Okahandja. Namibia is a democratic country, and when a person says he is not going to move, then we are talking about eviction,” he added. 

Tjitombo noted that there are no activities planned for the area currently, and no services have been extended thereto. Therefore, the municipality cannot put up ablution facilities or any permanent structures. 

A letter dated 15 May 2023 containing Tjitombo’s response to the request by the Namibia Woodcarvers CC to lease or purchase the land indicates that the application was declined, as it was established that the area is not suitable for wood carving because it is too close to the Okakango River, making it prone to flooding. 

It also said the woodcarver market poses security risks to the Military College as well as a fire risk to the nearby Shell service station. 

- Nampa