Govt asks farmers to move to defuse ethnic tension

In a move to defuse ethnic tension the Namibian government has ordered over 200 farmers from the country's largest ethnic group - the Ovambo - off land owned by the minority Kavango people in the northeast. But the Ovambo farmers fear an uncertain future as they prepare to trek to their traditional territory in the northwestern part of the country with about 60,000 head of cattle. The Ovambo claim they were forced off their traditional land in northwestern Namibia by rich farmers and government officials, who allegedly demarcated large tracts of land for themselves. Tension has been brewing in the western part of Namibia's northern Kavango region, where Ovambo farmers have been given 14 days to leave because they encroached on precious pastureland. The land conflict reached boiling point last week when Ovambo-speaking farmers accused communities in the Kavango region of poisoning water points and burning down kraals. Chief Sitentu Mpasi, leader of the Kavango tribal authority, then ordered the farmers to vacate the area and apply for grazing rights. In an emergency meeting at the weekend, Minister of Safety and Security Peter Tsheehama pointed out that the Ovambo had been farming in the area without permission from the Kavango tribal authorities. "This ... is not acceptable because, although the constitution says we can live anywhere in Namibia, we have to apply to local authorities for permission to live where we want to settle or live," said Tsheehama. The Kavango leader, Mpasi, said the Ovambo cattle farmers had been allocated a 10,000 sq km tract of land in 1946, but had not stayed within the agreed boundaries and had encroached on Kavango land. "How can the Ovambo-speaking people come and take our land for themselves again, when we gave them for free a huge piece of land?" said Mpasi. Kavango Governor John Thighuru said five kraals as well as residential huts at many cattle posts had been burnt down, and most of the wells used by the Ovambo had been clogged with stones, earth and branches, when Kavango communities had rallied behind Mpasi to drive the Ovambo farmers from their land. Sixty cattle had also died after drinking from poisoned water holes, said Thighuru. "If no action is taken now by the government, the situation could deteriorate further." Last Tuesday the National Society for Human Rights, a local NGO, called on President Hifikepunye Pohamba to intervene immediately and "institute effective mediation measures" to "avoid bloodshed at all costs". However, some farmers have vowed to defy the government directive to vacate the Kavango region until land to graze their livestock is made available in the northwest. The Ovambo said they had been forced to occupy land in the Kavango region after rich farmers, including top government officials, had allegedly fenced off large tracts of land in their ethnic territory, right up to the Angolan border. "As we are now moving out of Kavango, there is just no space in Ovamboland where we can graze our cattle," Vilho Hamunyela, one of the farmers, was quoted as saying by The Namibian daily newspaper.