Former President Nangolo Mbumba issuing of a proclamation to incorporate portions of unalienated state land into existing communal areas before leaving office is raising questions, on the future of the legally disputed farms Osema and Gusinde in the Okahandja area. 
The former president’s decision, made under the powers granted by the Communal Land Reform Act of 2002 and approved by the National Assembly, aims to expand communal land areas in various regions subject to a motivation by former Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Minister Calle Schlettwein which tabled in Parliament in February.
Confidente has learned that the inclusion of these farms in the proclamation did not consider an ongoing Court dispute in which owners of Chobezi Game Farming Safaris CC, which scored a victory in the Lands Tribunal after the government put the two farm up for lease on a going concern. 
In a letter addressed to President Nangolo Mbumba, earlier this month, the aggrieved party, accused Schlettwein “of having turned a blind eye to all legal proceedings around the allotment of these farms, for the past nine years.”
“We exemplified that Chobezi Game Farming and Safaris successfully competed and scored 65% in the evaluation committee on Resettlement Game Farms. This is the same committee created by the Land Reform Advissory Commission for the chief purpose of evaluating applications for game farms,” Vanessa Nowotes, Chobezi’s Director of Administration stressed. 
The farms were initially allotted to Ovitoto Hunting & Safaris, albeit under questionable conditions, which led to a public outcry and the repossession of the farms. Owners of Chobezi Game Farming and Safaris, which eventually scored a positive judgement after an appeal at the Lands Tribunal are of the view that they are the rightful beneficiaries of the farms. 
In her letter to the former president, Nowotes alleged that Schlettwein took the matter to Parliament ‘while fully aware that the two farms were advertised as game farms in the government gazette number 6125 of 15 September 2016.’ 
Mbumba’s proclamation was published in Government Gazette No. 8602 on 9 March 2025 and the updates are reflected in an amended Schedule 1 of the Communal Land Reform Act, which now includes revised descriptions of communal areas in Damaraland, Hereroland West, and Hereroland East.
The proclamation, signed on 4 March 2025, forms part of the government’s broader effort to address land distribution and ensure access to land for farming, cultural practices, and local development.
MURORUA QUERY
However, while the move to expand communal land, is said to align with resolutions from the last land conference, prior to the proclamation, United Democratic Front (UDF) parliamentarian, Dudu Murorua questioned the decision by Schlettwein to include the two farms in his motivation, despite the ongoing legal disputes.
“Did you rezone the farm to a livestock farm with an indication of livestock as per the carrying capacity of it to feed into the requirements of a communal grazing farm,” Murorua asked. 
He further questioned why Sclettwein “did not inform Parliament and the nation at large that there is a legal battle around the allocation of these farms, lodged with the Lands Tribunal of Namibia by the aggrieved applicant, Chobezi Game Farminbg Safaris CC.”
He further asked if Schlettwein was aware that he [Schlettwein] wrote a lease termination letter to a beneficiary who has been occupying the said farm for nearly eight years.
He also asked whether Schlettwein was aware that the Lands Tribunal of Namibia expressed itself on the case and that the appellant, in this case Chobezi Game Farming and Safaris won the case. 
“Do you, as Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform have any legal standing to disregard the decision of the Lands Tribunal?”
On his part, Schlettwein declined to reply to the questions put to him in Parliament. Attempts to get comment on the latest development proved futile. The honourable minister, who has now stepped into retirement, did not answer his phone.