Residents in Omitara are frustrated with the amount of time the Land Reform Advisory Commission is taking to solve the dispute at Farm Osombahe. 

63--year-old Bertha Hoxobes is one of many residents in Omitara living with livestock.

Her kraal is a confined space attached to her shack.

This has been her life for the past 20 years.

"It's a serious problem. Our animals are in a cramped space; they don't get to grow. My livestock sleeps without grazing. Just look at their state. I am under constant fear that my animals will die."

Hoxobes have 19 animals, including goats and sheep.

A stone's throw away is another resident with an even bigger problem. 64-year-old Ruth Oxurus has 14 cattle, 46 sheep, 50 goats, and 30 chickens.

"We have to pass through our goats and cows to reach the toilet. Just look at the number of flies around here. It's unhygienic, especially for young children. It stinks. When it rains, it becomes unbearable, and the sludge from the kraal seeps into the house." 

More than 40 other households are in the same boat. Livestock would graze along the road, causing numerous road accidents.

Stock theft is rampant, so the only alternative is to lock up the animals.

But their luck was about to change when, last year, locals formed a cooperative and applied for a resettlement farm eight kilometers away.

Called Gross Osombahe, the 9,785-hectare farm was to cater to the livestock owners around here.

In May 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform handed over the farm, but soon after, matters took a turn for the worse. Omitara residents are accusing the Chief Regional Officer of Omaheke, Pecka Semba, and others of moving into the farm, leaving them and their animals out in the cold.

When approached for comment at the scene, Pecka Semba refused to speak to nbc News.

At the moment, the farm is occupied by what the residents call outsiders and privileged people. 

These are some of the pictures the residents shared with nbc News of the happenings inside the farm.

Residents wrote letters to the line ministry complaining about being locked out, and in September last year, Minister Calle Schlettwein replied.

In the letter, the Farmer's Cooperative was instructed to put the physical occupation of the farm on hold pending consultations with the Land Reform Advisory Commission. The physical occupation shall only take place once the dispute is resolved.

Despite the letter, farm Osombahe is still being occupied.

The locals then demonstrated against the occupation, handing over petitions to the station commander and the Chairperson of the Omaheke Regional Council. Locals are also in possession of pictures depicting images of poaching, and some farmers recently killed a leopard on their farm.

When nbc News approached the line ministry for a comment, the Director of Resettlement and Regional Programme Implementation, Alfred Sikopo, said the matter is still being investigated by the Land Reform Advisory Commission.

"We have to leave it with the commission to finalize the investigation and advise the minister. I am not the commission, and I am not the minister. We just wait for the process to be finalized so we can communicate with the community."