Allexer Namundjembo
Residents in the Okongo Village council in the Ohangwena region are paying off loans for houses they cannot live in because the properties have no sewer, water, or electricity services.
The houses were constructed in Block 103, allocated under Council Resolution number OKVC/ORD-02-07/03/2023-05, but remain unoccupied due to the absence of basic services.
Some homeowners, through their lawyers Elago and Partners, sent a demand letter to the Okongo Village Council on 16 July 2024, accusing the council of having failed to provide essential services, as required by the Local Authorities Act and the Town Planning Ordinance.
“Our instructions are that the Village Council of Okongo has failed to exercise its powers in terms of Sections 38 and 34 read with Section 30(1) of the Local Authorities Act by ensuring that construction and provision are made for sewer, water and electrical services. In addition, the Village Council of Okongo has failed to comply with the Town Planning Ordinance 18 of 1954,” the lawyers wrote.
They demanded that the council provide these services within seven days or face legal action.
The houses were constructed by OLC Real Estates after the company secured a deal to assist the village council in building houses for those who bought land from the village council.
The real estate agency’s chief operations officer, Megameno Gideon, confirmed that residents are being charged for loans while the homes remain incomplete and unserviced.
“True, houses are constructed beautifully. Therefore, we fully understand the residents’ pain looking at it and they cannot occupy due to the pending sewer, water and electricity services that the council failed to install but still received the funds from the residents’ home loans for a serviced plot as per the serviced tariff amount indicated in the deeds of sale,” she said.
She confirmed that FNB Namibia began deducting monthly payments from the residents’ accounts in December 2024.
“True and very unfair, as our office has reached out to FNB on several occasions to remedy this situation, of which they have promised to write to the clients to date,” she said.
Gideon questioned how FNB approved home loans on unserviced land.
“The answer is lack of due diligence,” she said.
She added that FNB approved and registered bonds without confirming whether the land was fully serviced.
“FNB has really made mistakes from the onset, as they issued Final Approval without realising also the land that their client is buying was on a block that had no subdivision certificate in place,” said Gideon.
She also said that FNB is not the only financier involved, but only FNB clients are affected.
“Further take note: FNB is not the only financier to these developments; therefore only clients financed by FNB are suffering. Other financiers applied due diligence, as valuators are sent out to do thorough inspections prior to approval of a home loan, and a Certificate of Service must be submitted before any bond registrations.”
According to her, the conveyancer involved in the transaction, Anne Shilengudwa, was aware of the land status but still processed the transfers.
The sale agreements signed between the Okongo Village Council and the homeowners place responsibility for service payments on the buyers.
The agreement states: “The Purchaser shall, as of the date of this Agreement, be liable for payment of the basic tariff for sanitation services in respect of the Property, as well as for payment of the basic tariff applicable in respect of water and electricity services and removal of refuse.”
It also confirms that the property transfers would be handled by Shilengudwa Incorporated once all payments were made.
“As soon as the Seller tenders transfer, the Purchaser will be compelled to take all necessary steps and to perform all other actions to take transfer without any delay,” the agreement reads.
Gideon denied claims that her company received land from the council.
“Kindly take note once again: we never got land. If so, kindly furnish us with the proof in the form of a deed of transfer that the land in Okongo Proper, Ext1, 2, as per the MOU, belongs to us,” she said.
She said OLC only helped connect residents to financing options.
“They are clearly using the MOU as the scapegoat for lack of accountability,” said Gideon.
The Acting CEO of Okongo Village Council, Philip Mwetulundila, said the issue began before he joined the council and has little understanding of how that happened.
According to him, the land was given to the developer, not to individual buyers.
“In the MOU, it was stipulated that property developers were supposed to develop the land, and they just built houses without fully developing the land. I am not sure how the bank managed to finance those clients on unserviced land. To be honest, the matter was between the bank and the property developer,” he said.
This is despite the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development approving the sale of 19 erven without improvements to the village council at the cost of between N$12 000 and N$18 000 in July 2023 and another 19 in June 2024.
He added that the contractor was expected to build the sewage system.
The agreement signed between former CEO Immanuel Haikali and OLC Properties, seen by the Windhoek Observer, stated that the council would assist in availing erven for the construction of affordable houses.
It made no reference to the contractor having to install services.
“There are plus-minus 450 residential erven in all three extensions available for development,” the document reads.
The agreement has since been terminated.
FNB spokesperson Kirsty Watermeyer said the bank relied on documents submitted at the time of financing.
“At the time of financing, there was an MOU in place between the parties about who was responsible for the servicing of the land. Absolutely, as is always our practice. Additionally, we are working closely with the lawyers and parties involved, awaiting their resolution of the dispute,” she said.
The construction of the houses was halted in February by FNB.
