EDITORIAL: Traditional authorities must take crime seriously

One of the most cardinal responsibilities of traditional authorities is to harmonise community customs and traditions with the ethos of the country’s constitution.

This means their laws, and indeed punishment for violating them, must be in tune with the spirit of the constitution of the republic.

The leniency with which traditional authorities treat felonies such as rape and impregnating children lacks the element of deterrence.

The Namibian reported yesterday that rape would cost an offender a paltry N$3 000, as per revised traditional authority fines. The same amount would be charged for impregnating a child – which itself is rape too.

Ironically, child rape is so prevalent within the jurisdictions of these traditional authorities. In 2020, 109 girls and 11 boys were raped in a space of just two months. These were national figures, but the north contributes to these statistics significantly.

There is no doubt that there are even more unreported cases of this nature, especially where the perpetrator is related to the victim and family meetings are convened to ensure the matter does not reach the police.

The latest trivial fines by traditional authorities expose the glaring gap between the application of customary law and the constitutional framework.

Traditional authorities, as an extension of governance and the rule of law, have a duty to advance the rights of women and children in general, and charging N$3 000 for rape will encourage the abuse rather than deter it.