GOBABIS: Aminuis Constituency Councillor Erwin Uanguta has warned farmers who have fenced off portions of land in the Aminuis constituency without going through the set procedures, to desist from doing so.

Uanguta said the illegal fencing off of land for grazing purposes has reached disproportional heights in the area as many farmers are left without any arable land on which to graze their livestock during drought seasons.

The illegal fencing of land in the constituency is said to be largely perpetrated by well-off farmers in the area – some of whom already have commercial farms of their own.

He said they have warned people to refrain from such acts as there are procedures to follow, but they do not listen, adding that ‘what is left is for the law to take its full course now and act against those who are guilty of such offences’.

Uanguta told Nampa in an interview yesterday that everyone intending to fence off land for personal grazing first has to obtain the written consent of their neighbours, the relevant traditional authority and eventually, that of the line minister.

He warned that farmers who fail to produce proper documentation of authorisation upon inquiry by the relevant authority risk being prosecuted, as it is an offence to claim communal land for own use without such authorisation.