Two Ohangwena Women in Land Tussle

Oswald Shivute At Omafo

20 July 2011

A villager from Omafo village in the Ohangwena Region is accusing her sister-in-law of taking land given to her by the relatives of her late brother Andreas Sakarias who died in 2003.

According to Sakarias the land in question was bought and occupied by her father Hailaula Sakarias who died 1974. Both his land and homestead was than given to his son Hosea Hailaula Sakaria who died in 1996. The same house and mahangu field was than given to another brother Andreas Sakaria who also died in 2003.

The land and the homestead, Febe Sakarias claims was given to her by her relatives and she paid N$600 to the village headman Elias Erastus as is the customary practice. Andreas Sakarias had two wives, Elize Ndemutele who was staying with him in Walvis bay and Emilia Nghaamwa who was staying and working in their family shop at Omafo village.

Ndemutele also died in 2004 and because Febe Sakarias was staying in Windhoek, Nghaamwa apparently went and occupied the homestead of her late husband. When Sakarias heard about that she came to Omafo and went to report it to the village headman.

Both Sakarias and Nghaamwa were called by the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority and were told to divide the land (the mahangu field) in two so that each one can have a piece.

Nghaamwa, with the assistance of workers from the village headman, put up a fence between her and Sakarias.

Sakaria was not happy with the arrangement and resorted to the Ministry of Regional, Local Government, Housing and Rural Development as well as the Lands Ministry and the Helao Nafidi Town Council. The ministries and the Helao Nafidi Town Council have told Nghaamwa and Sakarias to make peace with each other and abide by the traditional authority’s decision until such time that the council demarcate the land.

The land belongs to the Helao Nafidi Council and not the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority.

Sakarias claims that the land land belongs to her, because Nghaamwa was not officially married to her brother Andreas.

Nghaamwa who has three children with her Sakarias’ brother says she was traditionally married to Andreas Sakaria and that the mahangu field and homestead rightfully belongs to her and her children.

In between the land fight, Nghaamwa had sold part of her mahangu field, which the Helao Nafidi Town Council stopped her from doing.

Nghaamwa told The Namibian that she has already stopped selling those plots, after she was told by the council not to do so.

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