Africa-Press – Namibia. AN appeal was made to farmers grazing in the Uulunga Wakolondo area, Okatyali constituency, to temporary relocate in order to make way for a three month shooting exercise by the Namibia Defence Force (NDF).
Uulunga Wakolondo is not only a cattle post for farmers from the Oshana and Oshikoto regions, but for those searching for better grazing land. During a community meeting on Tuesday, the farmers indicated that some of them moved to the area as far back as 1980 for the purpose of grazing.
Oshana governor Elia Irimari, however, informed the farming community that the land belongs to government and is used for different initiatives, including the shooting exercise.
Irimari further stated that it is not the desire of the members of the NDF to chase farmers away permanently, but that it was decided that it would be best for them to remove their water tanks and livestock to make way for the planned exercise.
Exercise Director, Brigadier General Ndengu Nambahu, said that every five years they hold major exercises, and back in March, June and August announcements were made for the community to vacate the area for their own safety and to avoid any fatalities.
Nambahu added that the exercise was supposed to kicked off in September, but delays happened due to the coronavirus. “The shooting exercise is expected to start on 25 September until November this year and farmers are given time to move to safety while the exercise is being conducted,” he said.
He explained that the purpose of the exercise is to train members of the NDF to defend the nation, and to use combat weapons. Nambahu noted that they understand the need for grazing, hence a decision was made to allow framers to graze on the portion within the shooting range that will be free from bullets.
“We are not chasing anyone away. All we want is that when bullets fall, they do not cause any harm to anyone,” he said.
He added that once the shooting exercise is complete, an environmental assessment will be done to see if the farmers are able to once again graze their livestock safely.
