Land grabs: Utoni holds crisis meeting

JEMIMA BEUKES AND MATHIAS HAUFIKU WINDHOEKFollowing a spate of land-grabbing incidents and infighting within the Windhoek municipality council, urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni called for an immediate solution to the chaos in the capital.Uutoni summoned the City’s leadership so they can brief him on the incidents that have rocked Windhoek in recent weeks.Last Wednesday’s meeting saw Uutoni and his deputy Natalia Goagoses and other senior ministerial officials meeting with City of Windhoek councillors and executives.Khomas governor Laura Mcleod-Katjirua was also in attendance.“I would like to obtain an official report from the municipal council on the subject matter detailing the extent of the problem, the specific areas where the land occupation has taken place and the measures that the municipal council has taken and or is taking to respond to the situation,” Utuoni said in a letter to Windhoek mayor Job Amupanda last week.Approached for comment yesterday, Uutoni told Namibian Sun that he met with the councillors to understand the situation and to hear what their plans are to deal with the illegal clearing and occupation of land in various parts of Windhoek.“We met and I wanted them to tell me what is their plan of action. They told me they came up with recommendations that they want to start engaging the community and start coming up with a plan to allocate land to the communities. I said it is fine, since they have committed themselves to this plan,” he said.Municipal councillors have been accused of shirking responsibility when it comes to land grabbing, with many criticising their lackadaisical approach.As expected, the strained relationship between councillors also arose, with Uutoni taking up the peacemaker role when he urged them to smoke the peace pipe and put politics aside to deliver on their mandate.We failedAt the meeting, the municipality admitted that it has failed to contain illegal land occupation.“Efforts to contain land invasion through prevention and removal of illegal structures on municipal land failed as the rate and intensity of occurrence far exceeded the municipality’s capacity to respond,” a report presented to the minister indicated.Council sources said the meeting resolved that the municipality must develop a common message aimed at condemning illegal land occupation.Councillors will also have a workshop later this week aimed primarily at finding a solution to the land crisis.Furthermore, there have been loud calls for the municipality to urgently address the provision of housing and land in Windhoek.One such call is from Mcleod-Katjirua, who called on the municipality to take action after she was approached in February by community members from the Tobias Hainyeko constituency demanding land.“The continued enquiries at my office from these concerned groups on the status of their plight and complete silence or non-responsiveness from your esteemed office prompted this urgent follow-up communication.“It remains my utmost conviction that an urgent intervention or consultation with the group will do justice to the situation at hand,” she wrote to Amupanda on 3 March.In his response a week later, Amupanda referred the matter to acting CEO George Mayumbelo.Tobias Hainyeko constituency and Otjomuise have been hotbeds of land-grabbing incidents lately.Applications stream inOfficial municipal records indicate that the municipality has received over 42 000 land applications in recent years.With more than 150 illegal structures demolished last week, the municipality estimates that there are more than 5 000 illegal structures in Windhoek.Meanwhile, Landless People’s Movement (LPM) has thrown its support behind land grabbers, saying it was not land grabbing, but rather a correction of historic land dispossession.LPM leader Bernadus Swartbooi said if indeed the land grabs were illegal, police officers would have done evictions with court orders and not through intimidation.“If the occupation of land is defined as illegal, then the government’s possession of land such as Etosha is also illegal and they must return [it] to those they have historically taken it from,” he said.He added that the land occupation of recent weeks shows that a peace-loving nation can also run out of patience when government fails to deliver land and basic rights.

Land grabs: Utoni holds crisis meeting

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-03

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Land grabs: Utoni holds crisis meeting

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-03

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