Farmers on the resettlement farm Katemba in the Kunene Region are distressed because they say the new owner evicted them.

Farm Okatemba near Kamanjab was bought by the government in 2007 for resettlement purposes.

However, Lazarus Kamati, who worked for the previous owner, has lived on the farm since then.

Kamati is, however, not resettled on the farm, and about two years after the farm was bought by the government, he was allegedly asked to leave.

He refused, saying there were no documents to support the eviction.

Kamati said the person resettled there, John Shifani, has now closed off their access to water, allegedly resulting in three of his cattle and six goats dying from thirst.

"Yesterday those people came back here again with the police from Kamanjab; those two police officers are the ones that spoke to me, asking me whether I knew why the other people were at the farm, and I told them that those people have been chasing me away from the farm."

He said some young men, under the directive of the resettled owner, then proceeded to remove his solar water pump system without saying a word to him.

"He came with young boys and told them to let the goats and cattle out of the kraal. I did not ask them anything; I was just quiet. When they led my livestock to the other side, another vehicle belonging to a man from Kamanjab came and redirected the boys to lead the animals to Anker and lock them up there. They did not even want my boys to follow; they were stopped."

Kamati saw his livestock in another kraal, adding that some were missing.

The farmer said two days later he found his livestock, still at the nearby farm, allegedly without any water.

This, Kamati and other farmers here say, prompted them to go and get their animals back under the monitoring eye of the new farm settler.

Although they are back at Farm Katemba, the farmers are living in fear that Shifani will return to chase them away from the farm, citing that they have nowhere else to go.

Kamati says he has 260 goats, 40 cattle, 80 sheep, and donkeys.

The resettled owner could not be reached for comment, as his phone went unanswered.

Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform's Kunene Region Land Division, Garry Nekongo, says an eviction notice was issued when the government bought a farm.

According to the directive, nothing was supposed to be left on the farm, including generational workers.

The farm is demarcated into two farming units, of which Unit B belongs to Dr. John Shifani, who took occupation of the farm in 2008.

Nekongo added that the previous owner's workers were paid severance packages and pensions, with the understanding they were to vacate the farm.

He explained that resettlement is only done based on recommendations from the Regional Resettlement Committee and that of the Land Reform Advisory Commission.

Nekongo says the ministry is faced with the great challenge of making farmland available for all landless and needy citizens.