Windhoek: Vice President Lucia Witbooi has directed a high-level delegation tasked with addressing challenges facing the Hai//Om San communities living near Etosha National Park to develop practical, realistic, and implementable solutions. Witbooi made the call on Thursday while addressing a daylong consultative meeting underway in Outjo.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the meeting is attended by Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice President Moses ||Khumub; Environment Minister Indileni Daniel; Education Minister Sanet Steenkamp; Deputy Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Linda Mbwale; governors of the Oshana, Oshikoto, and Kunene regions, as well as their constituency councillors. Witbooi emphasized the importance of focusing collective energies on developing solutions that respond to the realities on the ground, aiming for recommendations that are capable of informing a comprehensive plan to be submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Land and Social Issues, and thereafter to the Cabinet for consideration.
Oshana Governor Hofni Iipinge said his office has been involved since October 2025 to address challenges affecting the Hai//Om San communities at Okaukuejo and Ombika inside Etosha as both areas fall under the Uuvudhiya Constituency of Oshana. Iipinge highlighted concerns raised by residents over conditions at Okaukuejo Combined School, inadequate sanitation and electrification, limited access to civil registration services, healthcare, and patient transport. He also mentioned complaints about alleged unfair recruitment practices for jobs in the park, as well as longstanding concerns over ancestral land and use of natural resources within Etosha.
The objective of the meeting, as stated by Iipinge, is to hear the experiences of the affected communities, receive and consider the findings of the technical assessment, validate and interrogate those findings, clarify the mandates and responsibilities of line ministries, and deliberate on issues relating to land, resettlement, and access to natural resources inside the park. Hai//Om San Traditional Authority Chief Alfred //Khamuxab called for a share of the revenue generated by Etosha National Park to benefit his people. The meeting is expected to conclude with resolutions aimed at addressing these challenges facing Hai//Om San communities.