Residents of Divundu Village in the Kavango East Region are calling for the removal of the Village Council’s CEO, Athanasius Maghumbo, accusing him of corruption and unfair land practices.
During a public demonstration, residents claimed Maghumbo was giving land to outsiders while locals lost their plots without compensation.
"Our people here, even if your land is taken without consultation, at the same time when you try to make an appointment to come to the office of the CEO, they will tell you to make an appointment, and it can take more than three, four months, or a year without being consulted or having your problems attended to. Sometimes people try to close the road, but they find themselves being called by the police because they want to put a case against them. While they are the ones who are taking your land," said community representative Marando Freddy.
The residents have petitioned the Minister of Urban and Rural Development to intervene.
"We want the Minister of Urban and Rural Development to come, Mr. Sankwasa, to come to Divundu; there is corruption in Divundu; we want him to come. Everyone knows the corruption in Divundu, whether it's a leader or someone else. All the leaders in Mukwe know, starting from the regional council chairperson; he knows what the problem is in Divundu Village Council. We are very tired, and we don't want to take the law into our own hands; we are asking the minister to come," read the petition.
Receiving the petition on behalf of the governor, Mukwe Constituency Councillor Damian Maghambayi defended the council and said that compensation had been paid to some affected residents.
"I have the records on which people were compensated. Recently, on 12 May, people were compensated, and I will read some names so that we can understand that what we are saying is that the village council is not doing their work. You are not being compensated, and we really need to go deeper and find out what really has transpired because the records that I have at my disposal show people have been receiving their compensation. You must also understand that the payment for the compensation does not come from the budget of the village council. The village council submits the names to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development transfers the funds to the village council."
Maghambayi said the issues raised would be looked into.
CEO Athanasius Maghumbo told nbc News he had no comment at this stage.