Nama forum seeks N$1.04 trillion in restitution

The Nama Indigenous Peoples Forum in Namibia (NIPFIN) has approached the High Court seeking recognition of ancestral land rights and negotiations with government over a N$1.04 trillion restitution claim.NIPFIN, a voluntary association established to protect and promote Nama indigenous rights, land and culture, also wants N$160 million in damages for alleged discrimination and an order barring new mining, fishing, oil and green hydrogen licences in Great Namaland without its consent.In a founding affidavit dated 29 September, NIPFIN president Willem Josafat Isaacks argues that Nama communities have suffered generations of land dispossession and exploitation of natural resources without their consent.The application lists NIPFIN, Isaacks and Willem Beukes as applicants, while the government, president, prime minister, several ministers and the information commissioner and Office of the Ombudsman are named as respondents.At the centre of the dispute is a historical document identified as Ryksboek WA A.8, dated 1845, which Isaacks says establishes Nama ancestral ownership and customary rights over Great Namaland. He describes it as the community’s ‘Magna Carta’ and argues that it has never been lawfully cancelled and should be recognised as evidence of ancestral land rights.NIPFIN asks the court to declare the Ryksboek valid, among other things, and to refer the N$1.04 trillion claim for land, sea and air to negotiation with the government within 90 days.The affidavit sets out two figures: N$1.04 trillion for historical losses dating back to the 1880s, and N$610 billion for alleged losses between independence in 1990 and 2026. It does not clearly explain how the two relate, including whether the N$610 billion falls within the larger claim.It also includes a separate N$160 million discrimination claim.Isaacks estimates that activities between 1990 and 2026 have resulted in losses of N$610 billion to the First Indigenous and Nama peoples.His affidavit sets out calculations covering grants, resource extraction, alleged lost royalties and other economic losses, although these estimates have not been independently established.The organisation wants the court to declare the method used to calculate the N$610 billion figure and to refer the quantum to negotiations with government over restitution, alongside its broader N$1.04 trillion historical claim.While one section of the affidavit proposes placing the N$610 billion in a trust, another expressly states that the amount is not being sought as an immediate cash payment.N$160 million discrimination claimNIPFIN is separately seeking N$160 million in damages over what it describes as discriminatory refusals to register employers' federations using names that include First Indigenous and Nama.Isaacks alleges that the refusals prevented the organisations from operating as employers' federations, competing for business opportunities, accessing funding and participating in international indigenous platforms.The affidavit attributes the N$160 million claim to alleged lost tenders, business licences, legal costs, future losses and harm arising from the registration dispute.The applicants want the court to order the registration of the Nama Indigenous Peoples Small Miners Employers Federation and Indigenous Employers Federation within 14 days, while also reviewing the Ombudsman's handling of a related complaint.NIPFIN further seeks an order preventing government authorities from issuing mining, fishing, oil and green hydrogen licences in Great Namaland without its free, prior and informed consent.Isaacks argues that the application is urgent because resource development projects are continuing while indigenous communities are allegedly excluded from decisions affecting their ancestral territory.He specifically alleges that European Union-funded projects have proceeded without NIPFIN's consent.'Illegible' documentThe State has opposed the urgent application, arguing that the applicants have failed to establish grounds for the court to hear the matter urgently.Appearing before judge Lotta Ambunda on Wednesday, counsel for the respondents, Millicent Kastoor, urged the court to dismiss the application, arguing that the applicants had waited too long before approaching the court.“The founding affidavit is illegible, and it does not allow the respondents to reasonably ascertain the case they are required to meet or formulate a meaningful answering affidavit to,” Kastoor argued.The respondents also dispute the applicants' authority to represent the wider Nama community and contend that parties with a direct interest in the proceedings have not all been joined.They further argue that the applicants approached the court without first exhausting the available administrative remedies.“The applicants have failed to demonstrate in their papers that the available internal remedies were exhausted before approaching this honourable court or to establish any legally sustainable basis for dispensing with such remedies.”

Nama forum seeks N$1.04 trillion in restitution

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-22

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Nama forum seeks N$1.04 trillion in restitution

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-22

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