Nama leaders plan development centre

THE Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) last week announced plans to create a development centre at farm Nico-Noord in the Hardap region to boost skills development and entrepreneurship amongst the Nama people.

Speaking at the handover of brickmaking machines at Nico-Noord on Friday, /Hai-/Khaua kaptein Johannes Isaack, who doubles as the association’s succession committee chairperson, announced plans to build a N$70 million development centre in phases over 10 years.

PE Minerals, which holds the mining rights to the Rosh Pinah zinc mine, donated the brickmaking machines to the NTLA to produce bricks for the building of the envisaged development centre at the farm.

“We consider Nico-Noord in the sense of an incubator centre for learning, enterprise development and entrepreneurship, beginning by turning the place into a self-sustaining incubator for traditional knowledge holders, SMEs and informal operators handicapped by their inability to articulate their ideas,” said Isaack.

He said the idea of the development centre arose from the findings of an investigation into why community-based projects had failed.

The investigation found that poor project management, a lack of funds and commitment, poor youth involvement, along with absent monitoring and evaluation, training and motivation, were some of the factors which led to the failure of community-based projects in the south.

Isaack said Nico-Noord would also be the place where local knowledge holders would gather to document and record Nama traditional knowledge in order to promote research and development in the future.

He added that the issue of indigenous knowledge systems would be driven by the spouses of Nama leaders because primary healthcare in rural communities has always been the responsibility of women.

“Traditional medicine and the knowledge thereof has gained recognition in the world, and it is of cardinal importance that we begin reviving the development of this knowledge in all its facets,” he stressed.

At the handover ceremony, the wives of Nama leaders were also given certificates following their completion of skills development courses.

Also speaking at the event, deputy minister of gender equality Lucia Witbooi called on the Nama people to unite for the sake of development.

“We must unite to pressure government to give us what is due to us,” she stated.

Witbooi applauded the Nama leaders for taking initiative, adding that such efforts could only lead to positive change in Nama communities.

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