Africa-Press – Namibia. PRESIDENT Hage Geingob has warned traditional authorities and leaders against encouraging the illegal allocation of land and illegal fencing.
PRESIDENT Hage Geingob has warned traditional authorities and leaders against encouraging the illegal allocation of land and illegal fencing.
“This is a corrupt practice which must be nipped in the bud immediately,” he said in a statement read on his behalf by the minister of urban and rural development, Erastus Uutoni, at the 23rd annual meeting of the Council of Traditional Leaders, which officially commenced at Eenhana in the Ohangwena region yesterday.
The meeting will continue until 9 September.
Geingob said continuous instances of fragmentation, power struggles and leadership succession disputes in a number of traditional communities are disturbing.
“Unfortunately, on numerous occasions, the government is dragged into these avoidable disputes, which not only cause division among communities, but are also time- and resource-consuming.
“The time, energy and resources that are devoted to such disputes could best be spent on matters of priority, such as the war against poverty and unemployment,” he said.
Geingob said the government continues to be inundated with applications for the recognition of new traditional authorities, communities and leaders.
“Where there are legitimate cases for recognition, facts should be established beyond doubt, based on thorough investigations.
“We cannot have a situation where there is a perpetual proliferation of traditional communities and chieftainships, which are often premised on self-serving personal interests, preference and ambitions, while all these years they have peacefully resorted under one traditional authority and leader, sharing the same customs, values, language and culture without any problem,” he said.
The president said access to land remains a basic human need.
“In respect of communal land, the government has put systems in place to make sure that communal land is administered and managed in the interests, especially, of the people who are living in those areas,” he said.
Geingob said traditional authorities and leaders have an integral role to play in the promotion and creation of conditions for the empowerment and protection of the rights and safety of women and children.
“I recognise and applaud the stance of our traditional leaders against gender-based violence and once again call on you to do more and continue to work with the government and law-enforcement agencies in rooting out all forms of violence, discrimination and crime in general.
“Therefore, we call on you as elders to continue to guide and to inspire communities,” he said.
The acting chairperson of the Council of Traditional Leaders, Chief Immanuel #Nu-Axa /Gaseb, at the same event said the endless disputes among traditional communities are destabilising the government’s supportive environment.
“Looking at this year’s agenda there are more than five new applications for recognition by traditional communities as factions from already existing authorities or from the area of jurisdiction from already recognised and gazetted traditional authorities referred to the Office of the President.
“These in turn have been referred to the Council of Traditional Leaders for deliberation,” /Gaseb said.
He said it is the prerogative of the members of the council to determine the legitimacy of each application.
“I am further informed that there are 11 traditional authorities with chieftainship succession disputes, while some are waiting for investigations to be conducted,” he said.
/Gaseb has called on communities to respect customery norms and practices to move away from unnecessary disputes.
“This is a corrupt practice which must be nipped in the bud immediately,” he said in a statement read on his behalf by the minister of urban and rural development, Erastus Uutoni, at the 23rd annual meeting of the Council of Traditional Leaders, which officially commenced at Eenhana in the Ohangwena region yesterday.
The meeting will continue until 9 September.
Geingob said continuous instances of fragmentation, power struggles and leadership succession disputes in a number of traditional communities are disturbing.
“Unfortunately, on numerous occasions, the government is dragged into these avoidable disputes, which not only cause division among communities, but are also time- and resource-consuming.
“The time, energy and resources that are devoted to such disputes could best be spent on matters of priority, such as the war against poverty and unemployment,” he said.
Geingob said the government continues to be inundated with applications for the recognition of new traditional authorities, communities and leaders.
“Where there are legitimate cases for recognition, facts should be established beyond doubt, based on thorough investigations.
“We cannot have a situation where there is a perpetual proliferation of traditional communities and chieftainships, which are often premised on self-serving personal interests, preference and ambitions, while all these years they have peacefully resorted under one traditional authority and leader, sharing the same customs, values, language and culture without any problem,” he said.
The president said access to land remains a basic human need.
“In respect of communal land, the government has put systems in place to make sure that communal land is administered and managed in the interests, especially, of the people who are living in those areas,” he said.
Geingob said traditional authorities and leaders have an integral role to play in the promotion and creation of conditions for the empowerment and protection of the rights and safety of women and children.
“I recognise and applaud the stance of our traditional leaders against gender-based violence and once again call on you to do more and continue to work with the government and law-enforcement agencies in rooting out all forms of violence, discrimination and crime in general.
“Therefore, we call on you as elders to continue to guide and to inspire communities,” he said.
The acting chairperson of the Council of Traditional Leaders, Chief Immanuel #Nu-Axa /Gaseb, at the same event said the endless disputes among traditional communities are destabilising the government’s supportive environment.
“Looking at this year’s agenda there are more than five new applications for recognition by traditional communities as factions from already existing authorities or from the area of jurisdiction from already recognised and gazetted traditional authorities referred to the Office of the President.
“These in turn have been referred to the Council of Traditional Leaders for deliberation,” /Gaseb said.
He said it is the prerogative of the members of the council to determine the legitimacy of each application.
“I am further informed that there are 11 traditional authorities with chieftainship succession disputes, while some are waiting for investigations to be conducted,” he said.
/Gaseb has called on communities to respect customery norms and practices to move away from unnecessary disputes.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
