Purros campsite, lodge returned
Purros campsite, lodge returned

Purros campsite, lodge returned

Fred Goeieman
Four family members, a father and his three sons, were ordered by the Windhoek High Court to restore undisturbed possession and occupation of the lodge area of the Purros Community Campsite and Bush Lodge, to the Purros Conservancy in the Kunene Region.

After hearing the arguments in the dispute over ownership of the community tourism establishment, Deputy Judge President Hosea Angula, last week interdicted and restrained Peter Uaraavi his three sons, Unaro, Kaunda, Katutjiua, from unlawfully interfering with the conservancy committee's possession and occupation of the lodge area.

The respondents were also ordered to pay the costs of the application jointly or severally, the one paying, the other to be absolved.

Peter Uaraavi was appointed a manager of the community campsite and bush lodge in 2016 but was dismissed in February 2018, and since then he has not been in attendance.

This is according to the conservancy committee which brought the application before the court.

It is claimed the four respondents took occupation of the lodge section of the establishment and are claiming that the lodge belongs to them.

Peter however, claimed that a court order 15 years ago caused his eviction in a similar matter, but it did not apply to the lodge section of the establishment, only the campsite section.

He claimed he has not evicted by the applicants but simply took occupation of the property that belonged to him as the lawful owner.

However the committee said it is not in dispute that Uaraavi and his sons are in occupation or possession of the lodge but maintained that both the lodge and campsite are situated on the same Permission to Occupy commonly referred to as PTO and have always been run as a single unit.

“Should the respondents have rights over the lodge section as Peter claims, then they should follow the law to assert that,” the committee argued.

They further asked the court to interdict and restrain the Uaraavis from unlawfully interfering with their possession and occupation of the lodge area. They asked for costs.

The Uaraavis indicated their intention to oppose the application and also filed sworn statements.

The other respondents in the matter are the Otjikaoko Traditional Authority, Communal Land Board of Kunene Region, Land Reform Minister and the station commander of Sesfontein Police Station.

The Purros Conservancy committee took the resolution at a meeting where eight members were present and was therefore properly constituted. The committee consists of 13 members and a required quorum is seven members.

Norman Tjombe appeared on behalf of the applicants while Sylvia Kahengombe, on instructions of the Government Attorney's Office, appeared for the respondents.



FRED GOEIEMAN

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-23

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