Finaughty N$7.5m saga lingers

Albertina Nakale

KATIMA MULILO – More than a decade after the Cabinet resolved that the government should compensate the descendants of the late William ‘Billy’ Finaughty for the acquisition of his Katima Farm, the family is yet to receive the promised payment of over N$7.5 million. 

The family says the matter, which dates to a Cabinet decision of 2014, remains unresolved despite repeated correspondence with government offices, including the Office of the President, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade, the Zambezi governor’s office and other authorities.

The latest development has added urgency to the long-running dispute, with the family saying the government, through the Namibian Correctional Service (NCS), has started renovations and other work on the property, including the revamping of the existing water pump station.

John Finaughty, a grandson of the late William Finaughty, said the family has been left frustrated by the prolonged delay.

“Our concern is that our grandfather’s land has been taken by some other people that we don’t know. The government engaged us as a family, saying that the government was going to compensate us,” Finaughty said.

According to correspondence provided by the family, the Cabinet resolved in 2014 that the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development should secure funds for compensation amounting to N$7 569 778.74 in connection with the government’s acquisition of Katima Farm.

However, the family said, no payment has been made.

The paper trail provided by the family
 shows that the issue has repeatedly been
raised with the government over the years.

In a letter dated 21 January 2021, addressed to the Ministry of Finance and copied to the Office of the President, Office of the Governor of the Zambezi region, Office of the Ombudsman and Secretary to Cabinet, the family said it had been waiting for its compensation since 2014.

“We have been waiting for our funds to be paid out but to no avail,” the family wrote.

The letter also raised concerns about people occupying the property and alleged that some government officials were occupying houses and conducting activities on the land.

The family said it did not want to take the law into its own hands and instead wanted the matter resolved through the rule of law.

“If this case is not going to be resolved this year, we have got no option other than to go and stay on our ancestral land named Finaughty, well known as Katima Farm,” the family wrote.

Earlier, on 28 August 2019, the then Zambezi governor, Lawrence Sampofu, wrote to the then Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development regarding the compensation of the late Finaughty’s grandchildren.

In that correspondence, Sampofu said the grandchildren were frequently visiting his office while awaiting the resolution of the matter.

The letter referred to the 2014 Cabinet resolution and a ministerial response dated
15 October 2014, which indicated that government was obligated to pay
approximately N$7.5 million to the complainants for improvements on the land.

Sampofu subsequently resubmitted the matter to the minister for consideration, saying it had not been finalised.

The matter resurfaced again in October 2023, when former Cabinet Secretary George Simataa wrote to the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development.

In a letter dated 19 October 2023, titled ‘Outstanding Invoice to the Late Finaughty’s Grandchildren for Katima Farms’, Simataa said he had been approached by the Finaughty family during a visit to the Zambezi region.

He noted that the matter had been before the Cabinet in 2014 and that a decision had been taken for the ministry to secure funds and ensure payment of about N$7.5 million to the family following the government’s takeover of the farm.

“Considering the time period that has lapsed,” Simataa requested the ministry to submit a report on the status of the payment by 24 October 2023. According to the family’s correspondence, the Ministry of Trade and Industry later requested a death certificate for their grandfather before the compensation process could proceed.

Finaughty said the family went to considerable lengths to obtain the document.

“We were told that they were going to compensate us once we got the death certificate. We got it,” he said.

The death certificate provided by the family identifies the deceased as William Billy Finaughty, born on 6 January 1921, and records his death as 18 May 1974 in the Kavango area, according to the document.

The family says the certificate was submitted to the relevant government offices, including the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Office of the President.

Governor seeks presidential intervention

The latest correspondence provided by the family is a letter dated 17 July 2026 from the Office of the Governor of the Zambezi region to President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.

In the letter, Governor Dorothy Kabula-Simushi appealed for presidential intervention in the outstanding compensation matter involving the descendants of the late William Finaughty.

It further states that the death certificate had been acquired and submitted to the relevant authorities.

The governor also referred to the intervention by the Office of the Prime Minister in 2023, when the ministry was asked to provide a report on the status of the payment.

The family says there has been no final resolution.

‘We only want our compensation.’

Finaughty said the family’s position is straightforward: it wants the compensation the government committed to pay.

“We only want our money,” he said.

“If the government fails to pay us our money, then we’ve got no choice but to take back our land.”

He said the family was particularly concerned about developments taking place on the property while its compensation issue remained unresolved.

“We as a family have been very worried from 2014 up to now. We don’t know what takes the government so long,” Finaughty said.

He also alleged that people were occupying some of the family’s properties without its permission and that some of the buildings had been vandalised. The family has also questioned the presence of local authority employees in houses situated on the property.

At the same time, people living on the farm say they have faced uncertainty over their future as government authorities have repeatedly discussed their relocation.

One tenant, who asked not to be named, said he had previously worked for a company operating on the property but remained there after the company left. He said the Finaughty family had authorised him to remain on the property.

According to the tenant, the regional authorities have repeatedly visited the area since 2014 and issued eviction-related notices.

He said residents had been informed that they would eventually be relocated to another site, allegedly on land obtained from the Liselo Tribal Authority. However, he said there had been no clear communication on when the relocation would take place.

The tenant said residents were dependent on informal livelihoods, including gardening and small-scale livestock keeping.

“Most of them, they are just here,” he said, adding that some residents work in private companies while others depend largely on their own activities.

The uncertainty, he said, has left residents worried about their future.

NCS work underway

Meanwhile, the property is now undergoing renovations associated with the Namibian Correctional Service, according to information from the family and observations at the site.

The works reportedly include the refurbishment of the existing water pump station and other improvements to infrastructure on the farm.

“What we want as a family is our compensation,” he said.

“Failure to do it, we have got no choice. We will take back our land.”

The family has called on the Office of the President, the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade and the Zambezi Regional Council to intervene and provide clarity on the outstanding compensation and the developments at Katima Farm.

–anakale@nepc.com.na

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