Obrein Simasiku
The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) visited some of the families that were evicted and whose homes were demolished last month at Lwanyanda informal settlement in Katima Mulilo, where they donated food parcels to close to 50 families.
Homes of about three hundred households were demolished through a court order by Katima Mulilo Town Council and Kayuni Investment, leaving thousands of people including women and children homeless. Since then, some have returned to their villages, while others found alternative places to reside temporarily, but some still remain in the open sleeping in tents under trees.
“We delivered food parcels to the families that are still stranded following the inhumane action of the town council. We thought many found land and shelter elsewhere, but we realised what is on the ground is different, as more are still beleaguered. So we engaged them, and we shall take it from there to see how we can facilitate the allocation of land,” said LPM’s Youth leader Duminga Ndala.
“We condemn the actions of KMTC as their actions are inhumane, no one deserves to be treated in such a manner regardless of the situation because shelter is a basic human right for each one of us. We therefore hope next time the town council will have a more humane approach when dealing with such sensitive matters,” she added.
LPM’s Katima Urban political head Novic Mbeha, said the party received grievances of the public and will sit at a later stage to interrogate the issues and see how they can be assisted. “The party is serious in addressing the needs of the people, and in this case we take this homelessness issue very seriously. We shall deliberate and see what solution we can provide,” he said.
Equally, LPM spokesperson Daphine Simasiku, said that they are pushing towards addressing the needs of the residents. “It is not the first time we are consulting, we have people on the ground that are always in touch, however I wish to state that the party is not giving anyone land, but rather devising ways on how these people can have access to land and settle.”
The political atmosphere in the region was at a knife’s edge over the weekend as various parties descended on the North Eastern areas to canvas and try by all means to lure more supporters while maintaining their ground. The Namibia Economic Freedom Fighter (NEFF) also made its mark as it visited various areas and also engage its members, while on the other hand, the ruling Swapo Party made its debut as delegates to the November congress of the party, supporters and sympathisers rallied behind the candidates vying for the internal party positions of vice president, secretary general and deputy secretary general, including aspirants for the Central Committee.
