The Hambukushu Community in the Kavango East Region's Mukwe Constituency is against the designation of a Khwe Chief at Bwabwata National Park.

This comes after the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, approved the appointment of a Khwe Chief.

The Inspector General of the Police, Lieutenant General Joseph Shikongo, is visiting various policing areas and community members, aimed at educating the public on the police's mandate.

Lieutenant General Joseph Shikongo's tour started in Zambezi and later proceeded to the Mukwe Constituency in the Kavango East Region.

Swapo Party Member of Parliament Elifas Dingara says he will honour the invitation by the Hambukushu Traditional Authority when he returns from his official trip aboard and explain how the alleged illegal fence came about.

However, Dingara denied fencing off the area illegally, saying he consulted the surrounding communities to curb stock theft.

Dingara says the escalating crime of stock theft prompted the community to look for alternatives because reporting to the police alone was not addressing the problem.

The Hambukushu Traditional Authority is demanding answers from Member of Parliament Elifas Dingara for allegedly fencing off a large piece of land without its permission in the area of Kambimba in the Mukwe Constituency.

The Fumu of the Hambukushu Traditional Authority, Erwin Munika Mbambo, says the land allocation and fencing procedures are clear and that a consent letter must be obtained permitting such activities.

Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila is concerned that despite the government's welfare programme, there are still vulnerable children who do not have support.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said this during a fundraising dinner for orphans and vulnerable children at Divundu in the Mukwe Constituency. 

The premier pointed out that government has in the past financial year provided grants to close to 200,000 senior citizens.

50,000 people with disabilities and over 8,000 have been assisted through a "conditional basic income grant to the tune of N$5 million. 

Parents of learners at Thipanana Junior Primary School in Kavango East's Mukwe Constituency are calling for a holiday school during the winter trimester break.

This is because the learners did not allegedly have lessons since the beginning of the year, as they had only one teacher.

The parents gathered in front of the school gate to air their grievances to the media, saying their children would not meet promotional standards if no remedies were implemented.

Mukwe Constituency Councillor Damian Maghambayi is calling for permanent solutions to human-wildlife conflict, involving elephants. 

Maghambayi says many villages close to the Mahango Game Park are losing their crops to elephants escaping from the game park.

The Councillor made the call when he visited some affected crop farmers at Kangundja village.

Maghambayi has proposed the establishment of a conservancy in the area, calling on the Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Forest to educate the people on the benefits they will derive from it.

The principal of Max Makushe Secondary in Kavango East's Mukwe Constituency has threatened to suspend lessons if overflowing sewage at the school hostel is not addressed.

Godfried Mukata says the school hostel was declared unfit for human habitation last year by the Ministry of Health and Social Services and should not have been allowed to reopen in January.

Max Makushe is one of the oldest schools in the region, accommodating more than 1,000 learners in its hostel.

A man arrested for allegedly being in possession of two elephant tusks at the Buffalo checkpoint in the Mukwe Constituency on Friday, made his first appearance in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Lihako Sishwama, 31, appeared before magistrate Selma Shiiga, who granted him bail of N$10,000.

According to the charge sheet, Sishwama was arrested during a special police operation in the Mukwe Constituency.

He faces a charge of dealing in and being in possession of controlled wildlife products.

Residents of Kamutjonga Village in the Kavango East have rejected a suggestion by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism for them to establish a conservancy in their area.

Kamutjonga is among several villages in the Mukwe Constituency affected by human-wildlife conflict involving roaming elephants.

The village is situated outside the Bwabwata National Park's Mahango Core Area in the Kavango East's Mukwe Constituency.