{"id":5049,"date":"2021-11-10T13:07:09","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T13:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts"},"modified":"2021-11-10T14:37:06","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T14:37:06","slug":"hambukushu-reject-community-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts","title":{"rendered":"Hambukushu reject community courts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>The Hambukushu community in Kavango East is opposed to the idea of a community court and prefers their legal disputes to be heard by the traditional court. This was reiterated to justice minister Yvonne Dausab last week when she paid a courtesy call on Hambukushu chief Erwin Munika Mbambo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hambukushu traditional community is not in support of the community courts. The ministry can come for discussions \u2013 but so far, the community is saying they don\u2019t want it here in the Hambukushu traditional authority,\u201d said Alfons Mukerenge, a community member in the same meeting.<\/p>\n

A community court becomes operational whenever a community member violates the customary law of that traditional community, and it can approach a magistrate\u2019s court for its decisions to be enforced.<\/p>\n

The Hambukushu prefer their traditional court to resolve disputes such as domestic disputes, land ownership issues, goat or cattle theft \u2013 and even accusations of witchcraft and claims of discrimination against community members based on their HIV status.<\/p>\n

However, this court can also not enforce decisions. Chief Mbambo explained the decision to reject community courts is not his, but that the idea comes from the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been accused that I have turned down the idea of community courts, and the honourable minister will unyoke me from this accusation. She may convey this message with clear witness and information,\u201d he said. On her part, Dausab said she has an interest in community courts because they bring the law closer to the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to understand why the Hambukushu traditional authority doesn\u2019t have one. Maybe we can come together and discuss the possibility of a community court here, but I will totally understand if the traditional authority has a good system that works; that\u2019s fine also,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Without providing details, Dausab noted that other traditional authorities have also rejected community courts. Meanwhile, Dausab apologised to Mbambo for earlier media reports that angered the Hambukushu community, saying she was misinterpreted when she said the chief crossed the line and was not supposed to preside over a murder case.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came to apologise personally because the chief was not happy with the communication in the media about what happened at the traditional authority. I hope that the chief will forgive me for the miscommunication that happened,\u2019\u2019 she said. She was referring to information that the Hambukushu traditional authority had fined people it found guilty and responsible for a murder in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must understand that we have a constitution; we have laws, and there is a difference between the constitution and laws, and then there is tradition. Everything that we do, we do it in accordance with the constitution as the supreme law, but we also follow other laws and customs,\u201d said Dausab.<\/p>\n

Normally, when it comes to crimes such as murder, rape and treason, traditional and community courts will not have a jurisdiction to make a decision about such cases, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there is a practice called \u2018wiping of tears\u2019 in traditions. That is our traditional practice \u2013 and as the minister of justice, I explained to the media the practice is not taken away from the fact that the prosecutor general and the police must investigate murder, rape and other serious crimes in our society,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dausab stressed there is no way the minister of justice could say the traditional authority cannot make a decision about \u2018wiping of tears\u2019. \u201cAs leaders, we have a responsibility to protect all our people against harm, so when we say the traditional authority does not have authority, what we mean is that if somebody has committed serious crimes in the community, the state has the responsibility to arrest, charge and prosecute that person,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

However, most people see it as punishing the person twice \u2013 they go to jail for the murder \u2013 and then at the traditional community, they have to pay compensation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that the community is saying to that person that because you have caused us trouble, we want you to do something to help the family; it\u2019s a custom that this society has accepted,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Dausab further said they came to educate the public to understand that in a society like Namibia, with a constitution, they must protect the constitution and support those customs and traditional practices that are good for the country as a collective.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. The Hambukushu community in Kavango East is opposed to the idea of a community court and prefers their legal disputes to be heard by the traditional court. This was reiterated to justice minister Yvonne Dausab last week when she paid a courtesy call on Hambukushu chief Erwin Munika Mbambo. \u201cThe Hambukushu traditional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[234,236,2431,540,233],"class_list":["post-5049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-community-courts","tag-hambukushu","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nHambukushu reject community courts - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Hambukushu community in Kavango East is opposed to the idea of a community court and prefers their legal disputes to ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hambukushu reject community courts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hambukushu community in Kavango East is opposed to the idea of a community court and prefers their legal disputes to ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-10T13:07:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-10T14:37:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2021\/11\/img-618bd8fc62ff9.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Hambukushu reject community courts\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-10T13:07:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-10T14:37:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts\"},\"wordCount\":746,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2021\/11\/img-618bd8fc62ff9.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"community courts\",\"Hambukushu\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/hambukushu-reject-community-courts\",\"name\":\"Hambukushu reject community courts - 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