16 June 2011
THE Hambukushu Traditional Authority in eastern Kavango on Saturday handed over a disputed piece of land to a foreign investor who plans to build a lodge there.
The land is situated at Divava village, 207 kilometres east of Rundu in the Mukwe Constituency.
John Kashokora is currently occupying the plot.
However, the leader of the Hambukushu Traditional Authority, Chief Erwin Munika Mbambo, expropriated the land from him last month and gave it to South African investor Mel Henn.
During the handover of the land, the chief instructed the investor not to compensate the person who had been living there since 1996, claiming that he was an illegal occupant.
The investor has already started de-bushing the area with the assistance of 10 local people.
Kashokora has vowed to remain on the land until he is compensated as per the Traditional Authorities’ Act.
The Hambukushu Traditional Authority is in possession of a memorandum of understanding that Kashokora signed with a different investor last year for the sale of the same piece of land, without approval from the traditional authority.
Kashokora sold the land to Trevor Foster, the owner of Nunda Lodge, for N$30 000.
The Traditional Authority and certain members of the Divava community are now using that agreement as evidence against Kashokora, claiming that he has already benefited from that piece of land and cannot be compensated twice.
The agreement with Foster was declared null and void when Kashokora presented it to the community and the traditional authority for approval. Kashokora now has to reimburse Foster, but is unable to do so. – Nampa
AllAfrica – All the Time
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Disputed Hambukushu Land Sold to Foreign Investor