OTA moves to halt dissent

FRED GOEIEMAN

The Oukwanyama Traditional Authority (OTA) has approached the High Court to put a halt to the actions of certain individuals who allegedly proclaim villages and then declare themselves the headmen. The authority says this is happening in the area of its jurisdiction.

The OTA asked the court to interdict Thomas Haihambo and the first seven respondents in the application from allocating villages.

In the papers, OTA says the eight individuals are leaders of respondent 22, the Council of Traditional Leaders. There are 13 other respondents, who include the chairperson of the Namibia Traditional Councillors Association and the minister of urban and rural development.

The first eight are listed as Haihambo, Ndadi Marti, Wilbard Nambahu, Ndemudina Ndove, Ndapwa Hamukwaya, Moses Ndilenge, George Hikumwa and Festus Wangushu.

The applicant wants the court to interdict Haihambo and the 21 other respondents from further instigating the Kwanyama people to disobey or defy the authority’s lawful orders.

The authority also asked the court to interdict the respondents from issuing any verbal or written notices or communications that are the sole responsibility and prerogative of the OTA as the only recognised traditional authority in the jurisdiction.

OTA’s lawyer, Silas Kishi Shakumu, told Namibian Sun that the application stemmed from a ruling that Queen Martha Nelumbu’s removal of a traditional leader and two senior traditional councillors of her traditional authority was beyond her powers and unlawful.

The Windhoek High Court set aside the queen’s decision to dismiss George Hikumwah, Sipora Weyulu Dan and Vatilifa Hangula.

She had removed Hikumwah as a member of the Ohangwena Communal Land Board. However, the court ruled that the removal of a member of the Communal Land Board in accordance with the Communal Land Reform Act can only be done by the minister on specific grounds and after giving the affected board member a reasonable opportunity to be heard.

“Chiefs or traditional authorities are not assigned any powers in this regard by the Act. Nelumbu’s dismissal of Hikumwah from the board was beyond her powers and is accordingly unlawful,” the court had emphasised in the ruling.

According to Kishi Shakumu, this is being misinterpreted as meaning that any prominent member of the OTA has the power to allocate land and declare himself headman.

Teofilus George Nelulu, vice-chairperson of the Oukwanyama Traditional Council, explained in his sworn statement that the area under the jurisdiction of the OTA is divided into districts which are constituted of villages. Traditional councillors are appointed by the OTA while junior traditional councillors are appointed by the senior traditional councillors.

“This practice has been in existence for decades and the status quo in the entire Oukwanyama kingdom remains the same,” Nelulu said.

Around April 2013 the OTA decided to subdivide some of the districts for better coordination and management, as some districts had many villages and had become hard to manage.

Ohakafiya district, which had 78 villages, and Ohaingu district, which had 174 villages, were subdivided.

“The subdivision was not fully welcomed by certain members of the community. It is this resentment that manifested in factionalism and disobedience,” he explained.

The application will be heard on 3 April.