A group of about 30 Otweya residents who received houses in 2021 following the Twaloloka fire incident of 2020 are unhappy about an order to vacate their residences.
The group, along with 134 others, received homes following the Twaloloka fire at Walvis Bay in 2020.
Group spokesperson Maria Ishunga said on Monday the group was told without warning in a meeting in 2023 that they were occupying the houses illegally.
After receiving another eviction letter from the office of the government attorney, Ishunga said they want to understand how fire victims could have been allocated housing illegally.
Ishunga said she had lived in her shack at Twaloloka since buying it in 2017, and lived with other victims of the fire in tents for over a year after losing her possessions. She also said the group has tried to contact Erongo governor Neville Andre about the matter multiple times.
Andre said on Monday that investigations were conducted after it was detected that some houses were allocated illegally and without adhering to due process, including cases of allocations based on personal relationships.
“The case was submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission. Last year [the group] were notified that they are there illegally. Those that were supposed to be there legally were also notified. The matter was handed over to the attorney general and then to the sheriff. The case is not in my hands and they must rather contact that office if they think that things were done illegally,” he said.
Government attorney Willem Amukoto – who issued the order – declined to comment, saying that communications should be directed to the executive director’s office, and urging those who received the letters to comply with the order to vacate.
“We gave the occupants seven days from the day that they received the notice to vacate. I sent the letter in January,” he said.
The Walvis Rural constituency councillor, the Independent Patriots for Change’s Florian Tegako Donatus, was unavailable for comment.
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