Traditional leaders fear land bill will strip them of authority over communal land

Council of Traditional Authorities chairperson chief Immanuel Gaseb on Wednesday expressed strong opposition to the land bill currently before parliament, saying traditional leaders will not support the legislation.

In his address to the National Assembly’s standing committee on urban and rural development and land reform, Gaseb criticised the bill’s provisions on the administration of communal land, arguing that they would disempower traditional leaders.

He said the bill, tabled by minister of agriculture, fisheries, water and land reform Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi in September, contravenes the Council of Traditional Leaders Act of 1997.

Section 15 of the act stipulates that any draft legislation affecting communal land must be presented to the Council of Traditional Leaders for input before being introduced in the National Assembly.

“It is what I know. It’s in the act, the Council of Traditional Leaders Act, and that act is not amended. Now I hear the land must be taken over by the land board and traditional leaders have nothing to say over the land,” Gaseb said.

He added: “I am responsible for my leaders and if the land board takes that over, what is the meaning of traditional leaders on the ground? We don’t have land. We don’t have any say over the land. We cannot manage the land. If you take everything over… is that the meaning? You don’t want the traditional leaders in Namibia anymore.”

Gaseb urged parliament to halt the debate on the bill and convene an urgent consultation meeting with traditional leaders, in line with the provisions of the Council of Traditional Leaders Act.

When tabling the bill, Zaamwani-Kamwi said the legislation seeks to consolidate all existing land laws into a single, unified Land Act, including the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act and the Communal Land Reform Act.

Among other things, the bill calls for the establishment of a centralised land tribunal to deal with all land-related disputes, as well as land committees to handle land related matters in non-recognised traditional authorities.

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