Family members from 17 households in the OvaHimba community have been evicted from a resettlement farm on the outskirts of Kamanjab in the Kunene Region.
The affected families, who have been living alongside the gravel road for two weeks now, said they have nowhere to go.
The group of about 40 people told nbc News that they were dumped here by the new owner, who settled on the farm at the beginning of this year.
The families alleged that they have been living at Galbegin and ToKo Lodge, now a resettlement farm, for over 20 years after they were brought in from rural Kaokoland to set up Himba villages for tourist attractions and craft selling for an income.
"When we came to set up the Himba villages as women, we requested that we also need our husbands. They allowed us. It was harmonious. We started farming on the farms, and we stayed there until Farm Galbegin was sold and the houses demolished. We then moved to ToKo. There was no problem until recently when we were told we should move out as our animals were too many. The owners of ToKo also indicated they were only prepared to stay with 23 women with minor kids, who can continue trading at the Himba village. It's how we ended up here," narrated one of the evicted, Ngazehurukue Tjavara.
Tjavara added that following the eviction, some men were separated from their wives, and livestock were left behind at Farm ToKo, also known as Rustig.
The evicted families are now living in squalor on land belonging to headman David Maundu, who is now appealing for government assistance.
"We don't understand. We want clarity on when the government bought ToKo—did they not buy it with people in it, because what the people were doing there was business to help uplift themselves? We want the office of the governor to intervene, as many of those evicted are mothers with babies. They have no water, food, or shelter. They are not saying they do not want to return to Kaokoland, but there is nothing for them there now. This area has been their only home for years. There are school-going children who are equally affected, along with their parents. I've knocked on the door of the village council, but help isn't just coming through. Someone from the top office needs to come. We are all children of the government."
Maundu also requested the police's assistance to retrieve their livestock from ToKo Farm so that breastfeeding babies could also get milk from the goats.
When contacted about the evicted group's conditions, Kunene Governor Marius Sheya said his office was alerted to the matter, saying a task team would be set up to investigate and eventually find a solution.