Katima to evict land grabbersWhile the town council has admitted it has no funds to service land, it said it will not tolerate illegal land grabs. Hundreds expected to be homeless The Katima Mulilo Town Council will this week forcefully remove hundreds of people who are illegally occupying unserviced plots in different parts of the town.On Monday, Katima Mulilo Mayor Georgina Mwiya-Simataa issued a stern warning to those who have grabbed land and those intending to do so to stop immediately, as the council will soon be taking legal action against them.
“This practice is illegal. We have been calling on those who need land to come to the council and register but none have come to do so. This is why I am now issuing a final warning that the town council will take legal action and evict or destroy structures.
“Anybody found clearing land or grabbing a plot without town council permission or authorised letter, will face the music with the law,” Mwiya-Simataa said.
She told the media that the areas where land had been illegally occupied are earmarked for development in the near future.
These include Mahohoma, Cowboy, Dairy and parts of Chotto settlements.
The mayor added that at this stage, council does not have enough money to service land and put up houses, as there are cost implications involved, but in the absence of this, those in need of plots can apply through programmes such as the Shack Dwellers Federation, Build Together Programme, Mass Housing Project and credit housing with the National Housing Enterprise.
“If these people are fit and qualify in this programme, council has got a way to solve these housing backlog problems. Council is lobbying behind the line minster’s call that landless people apply through the mass housing programme.”
Mwiya-Simataa also cautioned that those who have grabbed land at the Dairy settlement, which lies opposite the Katima Mulilo Cemetery, are encroaching on unmarked graves that lie in an unfenced area.
“There is danger of exhuming skeletons or even building a house over them. The people who buried their loved ones there are threatening to take legal action as this is inhumane and undignified.”
Mwiya-Simataa said the eviction and destruction of illegal structures will be done with the assistance of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry and the Namibian Police Force.