Villagers take on Okahao council

THE community living in villages bordering Okahao Town Council are up in arms.

This follows after they were allegedly forced by the council to vacate and surrender their communal land rights to the council without compensation.

The villagers say such actions could result in a loss of livelihoods, as they would have to surrender their land where they grow their mahangu crops.

The concerned villagers further accused the town council of abusing its power and discriminating against the poor through the government’s town development scheme, which the villagers claim is aimed at targeting the voiceless to dispose of their land rights without compensation.

Joseua Kamati, acting headman of Oshuukwa village, one of the villages bordering Okahao, says the council disregards the traditional authority.

He claims the town council has invaded the village, and started servicing the land and constructing housing units without seeking approval from the headman or traditional authority.

“The Okahao Town Council’s management is pathetic, unprofessional, disrespectful and disorganised. Earlier this year, the council started servicing land at my village without consulting the headman or community members, and the next thing we saw they are constructing housing units without saying anything to us again,” he says.

Over 350 households are said to be forced to make way for development.

A concerned villager, Abed Kalenga, says that the town council is forcibly evicting him without compensation from a portion of land he has occupied for many years.

“I acquired this land through the traditional authority. Before I moved here, I had a homestead near town. I bought my piece of land here and now the town council is after me, forcing me to vacate my land, without compensating me or relocating me somewhere else. If I move from here, where am I going to stay?” he asks.

Okahao Town Council chief executive officer Timotheus Namwandi rubbished the claims, saying the council has reached an agreement with a number of homestead owners whom he said were all consulted.

“The claims are unfounded, because there are procedures to follow and you can only start with development once you have reached consensus with the owner of the house. About three to four homesteads in that area have already been evaluated and are ready to be compensated, but we cannot move them now because the town council does not have funds to compensate them with. We can never force anyone to surrender their land for free without consulting or engaging with them,” he said.

Namwandi said the council has held a number of community meetings with the affected homeowners and other villagers for consultations, and many of the villagers have shown interest in paving the way for development.

“We have had many consultations with the affected villagers. We always encourage aggrieved persons to engage with our office for anything they think may not be in their favour to deliberate on it,” said Namwandi.

He said the town council has identified over 10 townships for development.

Some 30 000 homestead owners are affected, and once the council secures enough funds, all homesteads will be evicted and compensated fairly, Namwandi said.