By: Kelvin Chiringa
Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has said that there seems to be an effort to tarnish her image and that of her family as accusations continued that she grabbed and sold at a massive profit, Farm Duwib.
The Prime Minister, who this week has also hogged the limelight in connection with the controversial loans given to her husband by the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), said she continues to be asked about the farm.
The Landless People’s Movement’s (LPM) second in command, Henny Seibeb, said he paid a visit to the farm where he found the San families living in squalor.
Seibeb who labelled the prime minister a Swapo golden girl, who should be investigated to see if she is an enabler in corrupt schemes, said such farms must be expropriated and given to the poor.
“Such allegations include that the farm was overpriced when sold to the government; that it was bought for a certain price and sold off four months after it was acquired; and that there was preferential treatment accorded to my family during the transaction related to this farm.
“It was also alleged, at one time, that the said farm was a resettlement farm which, it was alleged; I grabbed and used to raise a loan to build our residence. These allegations are false and malicious and seem to be aimed at tarnishing my image and that of my family,” she said.
However, Seibeb said the PM’s husband was spotted at the farm with a police protection unit.
“The problematic husband of the Prime Minister went last year to the Farm Duwib, (and) threatened the poor marginalised people. The old people were telling us that the Prime Minister and her husband came with a lot of cars, brandishing guns.
“They said they saw something like a bird making noise in the air, like a drone, I think it was a helicopter of the police protecting the Prime Minister, the group’s spokesperson, I have withheld his name for fear of him being victimised, informed us about how must Amadhila threatened them by allegedly making statements like ‘you Kwangaras must go and settle in Tsintsabis’.
“And that they should gather all their 50 donkeys in a car so that he must shoot them one by one,” said Seibeb.
However, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said that it is also not true that she has been provided with a request for resettlement of the community residing at Farm Duwib to convey to the President, as alleged.
She said resettlement activities are dealt with by designated government institutions.
“The government continues to prioritize the resettlement program, and as such, the designated Government institutions continue to relentlessly pursue efforts to give realization to the agreed measures in this regard.”
“Further, the allegations that the said communities were deprived of anything that belonged to them during my family’s tenure on the farm, are devoid of any truth. The community has, to the contrary, been allowed to reside on the farm with their animals, and they have not been disturbed in anyway,” said the PM.
She said she was never given any list of assets left for the community on the farm by the previous owner, adding that there were never any such assets on the farm.
According to her, “It is thus untrue that there were cattle and /or equipment or anything else that belonged to or were left for them that were taken away by us or that they were denied using.
“It is most unfortunate that the misinformation persists in spite of the explanation provided by various other institutions who were cited in regard to this matter and in spite of the obvious contradictions in these allegations.”
