CHIEF George Simasiku Mamili of the Mafwe Traditional Authority in the Zambezi region has defended himself against accusations that he was giving land to his friends, saying his decisions on land were impartial.
understands that the chief recently presided over a land ownership dispute between the Jeke, John and Sipapela families. The Jeke family claimed that the John and Sipapela families were ploughing on their land, while the John and Sipapela families claimed that the 20 hectares of land in question belonged to their grandfather. A representative of the chief, Progress Sipapela, last week said the chief had adviced the three families to have a meeting and find an amicable solution.
Following this, an anonymous SMS addressed to president Hage Geingob published in on Monday last week accused Mamili of giving land to his rich friends.
The full SMS reads: “Mr President, we, the people of Kapani area in the Linyanti constituency of the Zambezi region, want to know who has more power: the government, or the traditional chief? We are asking this question because the chief of the Mafwe is busy giving our land to his so-called rich friends in the community. Please intervene, or else the whole Kapani area is not going to vote in the upcoming elections.”
Sipapela, who spoke to last week on behalf of chief Mamili, explained that when the Jeke family reported the John and Sipapela families to the Chinchimani Khuta about ploughing on their field, the chief immediately sent his senior headmen to investigate the matter.
“There is an old man who knows the real story of who the land belongs to, so when the senior headman sent by the chief came to him, he explained to the traditional authority that the land belongs to the John family because they were the servants of the first chiefs Imata Mamili and Lifasi Mamili , and they left the land to them. The Jekes’ father came and thereafter asked permission to reside there with our grandfather John,” he noted, adding that the John and Sipapela families have legal rights to the land.
Sipapela further noted that after chief Mamili heard the history of the land, he advised all three families to sit down and peacefully negotiate the way forward, and they agreed to share the land.
“However, it seems like the Jeke family instigated their brothers in the Dukwe refugee camp, did not consult them when we agreed here that we are going to share the land. So now they are trying to accuse the chief of giving land to his friends and writing such messages to the president. The person who sent this message to the president in the media is from a single household in Kapani area and not an eligible voter in the Linyanti area because he lives in the Khomas region. He needs to be disciplined because he is a government employee and not working for his brothers in Dukwe refugee camp,” he noted.
Sipapela further noted that chief Mamili is not going to act on instructions from those who are getting their influence from affilitates within the Dukwe refugee camp as they are trying to intimidate the Mafwe Traditional Authority.
“Chief Mamili will never allow himself to be intimidated by those who go against the government of Namibia. Chief Mamili applies his full mind whenever he presides over a case and he never takes sides,” he noted.
A member of the Jeke family told last week on condition of anonymity that they were shocked when they saw the SMS in the paper. He said they were sharing the land with the John/Sipapela family as per the agreement.
”People have individual grudges but as far as the Jeke family is concerned, we stand by the agreement we have taken with the John/Sipapela family. We even went back to chief Mamili and informed him of our agreement,” the source said.
