Farmers ready to return to Kavango

THE Oshiwambo-speaking cattle farmers evicted from western Kavango are happy about the order granted by Judge Collins Parker in the High Court on Thursday.

More than 40 farmers gathered at Onethindi near Ondangwa on Saturday to discuss the court order that gave them the right to return to the grazing area in western Kavango. They might face eviction again, though.All the farmers have agreed to go back, but they say they are concerned about their safety in Kavango because they have been threatened and intimidated by the Police and the Ukwangali Traditional Authority of Chief Sitentu Mpasi.The farmers say because some of their wells have been poisoned in the past, they are afraid that this might have been done again in their absence.They say they also do not know whether the court order applies to all farmers chased out of the grazing area or only the nine who brought the court application.Vilho Tuliyaameni Hamunyela of the Ovawambo Herders Association said he would get clarification from the lawyer in the case.Some farmers at the meeting said they are also concerned about reports that the Ukwangali Traditional Authority has authorised Kavango farmers to fence off land bordering on the former Owambo into small semi-commercial farms.This area is exactly where their cattle had been grazing before they were driven out some months ago, the Oshiwambo-speaking farmers say.One farmer said he believed this was a tactic by the Chief of Ukwangali and the Kavango Communal Land Board to prevent Oshiwambo-speaking farmers from returning.Last week, the Secretary of the Ukwangali Traditional Authority, Abisai Namwila, told The Namibian that Chief Mpasi, in collaboration with the Kavango Communal Land Board and the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, had decided to allocate 60 small farms of five square kilometres each to his people along the regional border between Kavango and the former Owambo.”We have already received hundreds of applications, all from Kavango, for these farm units and we are busy approving their applications, with those approved already busy camping off their farm units in that area,” Namwila said.In terms of the High Court order, Chief Sitentu Mpasi and the other respondents, namely the Ukwangali Traditional Authority, the Kavango Communal Land Board, the Ministry of Safety and Security and the Government must allow the nine farmers to return to the land where they claim to have been grazing their cattle for years.Chief Mpasi and the other respondents may also not infringe on the nine farmers’ “quiet and peaceful possession” of the area and their cattle, and must give the farmers “free, peaceful and undisturbed access of their cattle” in the area.The victory that the farmers scored with the granting of the order may not be the end of their troubles though.In terms of a further part of the order, their return to the Region will remain in force only until actions that the authorities might take in terms of the Communal Land Reform Act – which determines eviction procedures pertaining to communal land.In effect, the court order might only be giving the farmers some breathing space before they might again be facing eviction – as long as due legal process is followed the next time.They might face eviction again, though.All the farmers have agreed to go back, but they say they are concerned about their safety in Kavango because they have been threatened and intimidated by the Police and the Ukwangali Traditional Authority of Chief Sitentu Mpasi.The farmers say because some of their wells have been poisoned in the past, they are afraid that this might have been done again in their absence.They say they also do not know whether the court order applies to all farmers chased out of the grazing area or only the nine who brought the court application.Vilho Tuliyaameni Hamunyela of the Ovawambo Herders Association said he would get clarification from the lawyer in the case.Some farmers at the meeting said they are also concerned about reports that the Ukwangali Traditional Authority has authorised Kavango farmers to fence off land bordering on the former Owambo into small semi-commercial farms.This area is exactly where their cattle had been grazing before they were driven out some months ago, the Oshiwambo-speaking farmers say. One farmer said he believed this was a tactic by the Chief of Ukwangali and the Kavango Communal Land Board to prevent Oshiwambo-speaking farmers from returning.Last week, the Secretary of the Ukwangali Traditional Authority, Abisai Namwila, told The Namibian that Chief Mpasi, in collaboration with the Kavango Communal Land Board and the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, had decided to allocate 60 small farms of five square kilometres each to his people along the regional border between Kavango and the former Owambo.”We have already received hundreds of applications, all from Kavango, for these farm units and we are busy approving their applications, with those approved already busy camping off their farm units in that area,” Namwila said.In terms of the High Court order, Chief Sitentu Mpasi and the other respondents, namely the Ukwangali Traditional Authority, the Kavango Communal Land Board, the Ministry of Safety and Security and the Government must allow the nine farmers to return to the land where they claim to have been grazing their cattle for years.Chief Mpasi and the other respondents may also not infringe on the nine farmers’ “quiet and peaceful possession” of the area and their cattle, and must give the farmers “free, peaceful and undisturbed access of their cattle” in the area.The victory that the farmers scored with the granting of the order may not be the end of their troubles though.In terms of a further part of the order, their return to the Region will remain in force only until actions that the authorities might take in terms of the Communal Land Reform Act – which determines eviction procedures pertaining to communal land.In effect, the court order might only be giving the farmers some breathing space before they might again be facing eviction – as long as due legal process is followed the next time.