Bukalo
Some residents of Bukalo – 40 kilometres east of Katima Mulilo – have refused to vacate their land to pave way for the newly proclaimed Bukalo Village Council due to what they claim is “unfair compensation” for their land.
Compensation paid out to villagers were previously as high as N$1.4 million but have gone down to N$5 000.
A record amount of N$1.4 million was reportedly paid to one of the beneficiaries, while another received around N$600 000 to avail land for the development of the Bukalo Village Council.
Currently, some of the claimants are being offered amounts ranging from N$5 000 to N$10 000 and N$11 000, while an elderly claimant got N$23 000 for a substantial piece of her communal land.
During the last evaluations, one of the disgruntled claimants was promised N$100 000 but this amount has now been reduced to N$11 000, according to a well-placed source at Bukalo.
New Era is informed that measurements of land for the first beneficiaries back in 2013 were conducted by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, under the auspices of the Zambezi Regional Council.
Some villagers have not been paid as the funds were depleted and many villagers were told to wait for government to avail more funds for the exercise. Residents have now been waiting for about three years to be paid while their land has not been put to productive use, and they have approached the Bukalo Village Council on several occasions to seek answers.
Chairperson of the council, Charles Siyauya, stated they were informed the money earmarked for compensation of the villagers was used up in compensation claims.
“The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development informed the Bukalo Village Council that the money which was earmarked for compensation has already been exhausted. However, they are now busy identifying and collecting funds and will be able to give us feedback before the end of April,” explained Siyauya.
New Era has learnt that new measurements and valuation of land were done last year but by the Ministry of Land Reform, and residents were supposed to be compensated this year.
However, residents feel unhappy because the current compensation is far too little when compared to the amounts that were paid in the first round in 2013.
Siyauya admitted it is indeed perceived that residents who were compensated in 2013 received more money compared to the 2016 compensation indications. He could not however be drawn into revealing the actual figures of what some of the residents were paid back in 2013.
But he said that about N$15 million was the total estimated cost of the compensation.
New Era was however informed that one of the beneficiaries received over N$1 million compared to the amounts of less than N$5 000 that have been offered to some of the current claimants.
Bukalo residents, affected by what they perceive as unjust compensation, are saying the amounts being paid currently do not equal the huge amounts of money they spent to build their homesteads.
Others complain their farming units were not measured because officials from the land reform ministry had said that there was no sign of any activity taking place on the land. Others complain that only a portion of their farming land was measured and other parts were not measured.
The village council held an emergency meeting recently that lasted for several hours to try to explain the anomaly in the land payments but residents were unconvinced by the explanation.
However, after hours of negotiation an agreement was finally reached between the two groups. Among others, it was agreed that residents who are not satisfied must submit their names to the council and the council will request the land reform ministry to verify and take new measurements.
It was also resolved that the benchmark used to compensate residents in 2013 should be used in the current round of compensations.
Siyauya stated that this is a serious challenge as the council’s operations for development have been put on hold. “The service providers who are servicing the land are on site but doing nothing, because any movement will be construed as trespassing on private property. This is a serious challenge, which is too costly to government,” he said.
Siyauya said that the council will engage both the land reform ministry and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to expedite the matter.
“Bukalo Village Council will write a letter to both the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and the Ministry of Land Reform to inform them of the status quo and request their support,” he said.
He added that copies of that letter would also be sent to the Zambezi Regional Council and the Katima Rural Constituency office for smooth and easy communication.