The Land Question in Oshakati Swapo (the people) versus Swapo (the Town Council) Comment

After 18 years of Swapo rule, there is much to be proud of and much to be wary of.

Among the achievements have been the political freedoms that the country’s citizens enjoy; a growing entrepreneurial spirit; access to development finance; an education system that is secular; and a government that has been duly elected. However, the economy remains in the hands of big finance houses, the owners of mining and fishing companies, and a government that has been particularly predisposed to a way of doing business that often excludes the majority and their wishes.In this photo essay, a group of aggrieved Namibians are opposing what amounts to a forced removal from their land that they have occupied for over five decades.Two kilometres off the beaten track north of Oshakati, the 500-plus people from Ehenye are mainly Swapo supporters who have been informed by a Swapo-dominated Town Council that they would have to move from their homesteads to make way for a housing development project.The Council is offering a measly N$2 000 per household as compensation.Understandably, the people of Ehenye are opposing this offer.Their reasoning is that they have nowhere to go to and that the pittance offered by the Swapo councillors is nowhere near the selling price of their land.Most analysts on the land question have warned that unless the issue of title deeds or the lack of title deeds is resolved, the country could face a revolt by the very people who catapulted Swapo into power.Most rural dwellers and informal settlers in urban areas have no title deeds.This fact does not however mean that they do not own the land that they have occupied for decades, or for centuries in most dwellings in the countryside.Proper housing and sanitation, running water, electricity and access to healthcare are the only real demands of people whose livelihoods are at stake, and forced removals are not going to solve the vexatious question of land, ownership and access.However, the economy remains in the hands of big finance houses, the owners of mining and fishing companies, and a government that has been particularly predisposed to a way of doing business that often excludes the majority and their wishes.In this photo essay, a group of aggrieved Namibians are opposing what amounts to a forced removal from their land that they have occupied for over five decades.Two kilometres off the beaten track north of Oshakati, the 500-plus people from Ehenye are mainly Swapo supporters who have been informed by a Swapo-dominated Town Council that they would have to move from their homesteads to make way for a housing development project.The Council is offering a measly N$2 000 per household as compensation.Understandably, the people of Ehenye are opposing this offer.Their reasoning is that they have nowhere to go to and that the pittance offered by the Swapo councillors is nowhere near the selling price of their land.Most analysts on the land question have warned that unless the issue of title deeds or the lack of title deeds is resolved, the country could face a revolt by the very people who catapulted Swapo into power.Most rural dwellers and informal settlers in urban areas have no title deeds.This fact does not however mean that they do not own the land that they have occupied for decades, or for centuries in most dwellings in the countryside.Proper housing and sanitation, running water, electricity and access to healthcare are the only real demands of people whose livelihoods are at stake, and forced removals are not going to solve the vexatious question of land, ownership and access.