Placido Hilukilwa
THE allegations that prominent politicians and businesspeople have fenced off grazing areas at Okashana kUukongo gwaNehale in the Omuntele constituency of the Oshikoto Region are simply false, said Mannetjies Kambonde, the secretary to Omukwaniilwa Shuumbwa Nangolo of the Ondonga Traditional Authority.
On Saturday, a group of communal cattle herders acted on threats they made days earlier. They took the law into their own hands and vandalized the fences erected in the area by people whom they labelled as “land invaders.”
Days earlier, the cattle herders presented their grievances to the Oshikoto Regional Council, alleging that senior traditional leaders, businesspeople, politicians, and other well-off members of the community had fenced off large tracts of communal grazing land, depriving ordinary livestock farmers of a place to graze their animals. Their deadline for a favourable response was the 13th of September.
The day came and went without a response, and on Saturday, the herders took the law into their own hands, vandalizing fences in their wake.
Kambonde dismissed as untrue the claims by the cattle herders that the fences at Okashana were erected without consulting members of the local community.
“It was me who headed the OTA delegation that went to inform the community about the planned development in the area. One of those who now allege a lack of consultation delivered the welcoming remarks at the onset of that meeting,” said Kambonde, without mentioning names.
He is adamant that there was no land invasion. “The land was allocated legally,” he said.
He went on to explain that the area known as Okashana kUukongo gwaNehale (literally, [King] Nehale’s Hunting Ground) is part of a wider grazing area under the jurisdiction of the Ondonga Traditional Authority that borders the Etosha National Park. It is assigned no village headman but is directly administered by Omukwaniilwa. It was he who resettled people there for purposes of food (maize) production.
Kambonde added that cattle posts in the area were unaffected by the new development.
“Ondonga has a very large grazing area. Okashana kUukongo gwaNehale is practically a drop in the ocean. It is, therefore, not true that cattle herders were deprived of their grazing fields,” he said.
He also expressed his amusement at the fact that the disgruntled cattle herders have not yet taken their grievances to the traditional authority, which is the custodian of the communal land.
