By:Uakutura Kambaekua
The previously dubious land dealing in the town of Opuwo are, according to Swapo’s regional leadership, due to the town’s former leadership under the stewardship of both the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) and the ruling Swapo party councilors.
Both Swapo and former PDM town council leaders, in separate interviews with The Villager,refused to account or be held liable for past land dealings that are now causing uproar among the town residents.
Last week, the ruling party called for a press conference during which they distanced themselves from past land dealings between the Town Council and its clients.
According to Swapo, in 2005 when they took over the Council chambers, the elected councilors picked up various discrepancies and mismanagement on the land properties of the Town Council.
The discrepancies in question, are among others the sale of Newman Katuta Sports Stadium to a businessman, farmer and politician Erastus ‘Chicco’ Shambumba to the tune of N$ 1.3 million.
It is also understood that a gentleman’s agreement was struck between the Council and Shapumba, in which the client was to construct a similar sports facility on land allocated by the Council before engaging on any form of construction on the land in question, however, Shapumba had other ideas.
The land in question now belongs to another business man, a certain Gerrit Schoeman, who acquired it from Shambumba to the tune of close to N$5 million.
The ruling party’s coordinator in the Kunene region Julius Kaujova also stated that the DTA council made various dubious land deals involving the sale of 30 hector piece of land on the outskirt of the town for as little as N$ 12,000 where the Opuwo country hotel seats, and another plot in the areas of Putuavanga School for an undisclosed amount to Shcreider, a land developer.
Kaujova also went on to say that the Swapo led-council passed on a council resolution to compel the buyer of the plot 225 known as Newman Katuta stadium, to relocate the sports facilities to a new identified sports ground and to build standard modern sports complex before commencing on his planned business complex.
Alternatively, former mayor of the Opuwo Town Council DTA’s Kaare Lucuis Mupya came out gun blazing blaming the ruling party for causing the current uproar over land dealings discrepancies within the town.
Mupya says the sports ground in question was sold in 2013 during the Swapo party tenure.

Mupya, now current Chairperson of the Town Management Committee was also part of the Council during the period under review.
Tuarungua Kavari, former Mayor of Opuwo (2010 – 2015) on the Swapo party ticket told this publication that the land in question was sold before his tenure and thus, Mupya and his allies should account for those land dealings.
“If he [Mupya] is saying that the land was sold by us then he was present, because he was also a councilor during my tenure, but what I can say is that we never sold that stadium,” he noted.
It is also understood that the sports ground was sold without the Ministry of Youth and Sports approval who were the developer and custodian of the facility.