The ||Khomanin Traditional Authority has rejected allegations that it is illegally selling land to non-members, saying the claims are baseless and tribalistic.
||Khomanin Traditional Authority Gaos Juliane Gawa-!Nas rejected the allegations that the authority allocates land to people with money at a press conference in Windhoek yesterday.
“As leaders of the traditional community, we will not condone tribalism, and we will condemn it,” she said.
The allegations were allegedly made by what the traditional authority described as the “illegal” Landless ||Khomanin Traditional Community organisation, headed by activist Shaun Gariseb.
Gariseb earlier this year accused the queen and her council of unlawful land sales, a lack of accountability, financial mismanagement and keeping donations meant for the community for herself.
Him and his group this year voted to remove Gawa-!Nas and her council. The voting session saw majority voting for her removal.
Urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa previously said traditional chiefs can only be removed through processes led by royal families and not by communities alone.
However, the Traditional Authorities Act allows for the removal of chiefs or heads of traditional communities from office by community members, provided there is sufficient reason and the process is in accordance with customary law.
Despite that, the community signed and handed the petition to Sankwasa. This was confirmed by ministry spokesperson Etuna Shikalepo in June.
Gawa-!Nas yesterday said those making the allegations have failed to provide evidence to support their claims, challenging them to provide evidence and to report the matter to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) or the court.
“If there is really proof that we are selling land, then they have to come forward with the evidence to the authorities,” Gawa-!Nas said.
She said the traditional authority is required to work with all people living within its boundaries, regardless of their ethnic background.
“I would like to make special reference to intermarriages between the different traditional communities. If there is any person coming here with a special request, we are not going to reject people based on their ethnicity but assist them,” she said.
Gawa-!Nas said there is no government directive restricting the authority from assisting people who are not members of the ||Khomanin traditional community.
She said the presence of people from other traditional communities within the ||Khomanin area should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that they paid for it.
Special adviser to Gawa-!Nas and traditional authority spokesperson Walter |Hâseb warns that information concerning the traditional authority that does not come through his office should not be regarded as official.
“Any person writing letters to the government or anywhere pretending to be the traditional authority is doing that illegally,” he says.
He urges members of the public and government officials to be cautious of information that does not carry the traditional authority’s official stamp or letterhead.
Gariseb yesterday said the allegations against Gawa-!Nas go beyond the alleged sale of land. He accused her of maladministration, poor governance and violating 27 provisions of the community’s customary law, which he said have been adopted without consultation.
He also alleged failure to ordinarily reside within the communal area of the traditional community as required by statutory and customary obligations.
The gaos allegedly lives in Windhoek, while she is supposed to reside on gazzeted communal land in Arovlei or Korassieplaatz.
“We have already removed that chief and we want the law to take its course. We provided overwhelming evidence, and she must not think that her selling of land was the only grounds for her removal,” Gariseb said.
