PRESS RELEASE


Justice Minister and Attorney General Honorable Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana and at least two other wealthy high-ranking SWAPO Party and Government officials are allegedly illegally and or unprocedurally occupying a piece of land in the Uukwanambwa District of the Ondonga Traditional Area, NSHR has reliably learned. Honorable Iivula-Ithana is also the Secretary General of the governing SWAPO Party.



Located near Omutsegwonime village along the BI highway, some 10 kilometers east of the newly proclaimed town of Omuthiya, the 2 000 m x 500 m piece of land is communal land resorting under the Ondonga Tradional Authority (OTA). This land has recently been fenced off.



Approached for comment over the legal status of the land in question, OTA Spokesperson Senior Headman Boas Mweendeleli confirmed that the land resorts under OTA. Senior Headman Mweendeleli, told NSHR that prior to Namibian independence the land resorted under Owambo Government. After independence, it became State property under the Ministry of Agriculture. From around March 2006 it was transferred to the Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (MLRR) whence it was transferred to OTA on or around July 11 2007.



It remains unclear as to how exactly Honorable Iivula-Ithana and others acquired the said land. However, NSHR was reliably informed that neither Ondonga Senior Headman Phillip Shilongo Andreas Ukule nor local Headman Wilibard Lidker has been involved in the land deal. Hence, the alleged illegality.



Senior Headman Ukule, acting on behalf of OTA, is in charge of the Uukwanambwa District, while Headman Wilibard Lidker runs Omutsegwonime Ward where the land in question is located. Headman Lidker reports to Senior Headman Ukule. Both Ukule and Lidker could not be reached for comment.



Another reliable source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that Honorable Iivula-Ithana and others used their Ministerial status and or political influence to receive this land directly from Ondonga King Immanuel Kauluma Elifas. Senior Headman Mweendeleli could not confirm or deny the allegations that King Elifas personally, and without OTA involvement, authorized the acquisition of the said land by Honorable Iivula-Ithana and two other politically well connected wealthy individuals.



NSHR is strongly of the opinion that disadvantaged Namibians who are being removed from the town Omuthiya, and who are really entitled to resettlement as a matter of priority, should have been resettled on this land.



Since the public has the right to know, the human rights organization calls upon Honorable Iivula-Ithana to publicly comment on the land fencing-off allegations as well as to why her acquisition of such land does not constitute a conflict of interest and or a self-enrichment exercise.



For further information please call: Dorkas Phillemon at Tel: +264 61 236 183 or +264 61 253 447 (during office hours)