Martin Endjala
The chairperson of the Council of Traditional Authorities, Chief Immanuel ǂNu-Axa |Gaseb, has called for urgent intervention in the ongoing debacle in the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority.
On Saturday, the traditional authorities forcibly removed several community members from the offices where they had been camping since 18 November 2024.
This also led to the arrest of community activists Jimmy ||Araseb and Ringo |Huseb.
According to Gâseb, what unfolded in Uis is painting a bad image of the Dâure Daman people.
“I am very disappointed in how this matter is being handled. As the chairperson of traditional authority, I have made calls to Chief Seibeb to meet with me and discuss the matter to find an amicable solution. But I still cannot reach Chief Seibeb,” said Gâseb.
He advised the traditional authority not to politicise the matter.
Gâseb added that he invited activist Jimmy ||Araseb to his office in Windhoek last year.
However, the matter was not finalised pending findings of the Ministry of Urbanisation and Rural Development (MURD) report.
The community members are calling for Seibeb to step down as their leader, whom they have accused of mismanaging the natural resources in the area.
Daures constituency is endowed with much sought-after lithium, tin, and gemstones.
The Dâure Daman Traditional Authority’s legal representative, Moses Ikanga of M. Ikanga & Associates Co., during a court hearing on 16 December 2024, said that the group took control of the premises unlawfully on 3 December 2024 in the early hours by breaking the locks of the gate leading to the office.
He said they went on to set up camp and started to squat at the premises.
“Not only did the respondents (community members cited in court documents) invade and take charge of the premises, but they have also become violent towards the employees of the applicant and prevented them and any other person who intended to enter the office, including traditional counsellors of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority, from entering the premises,” said Inkanga.
He added that, as a result, Chief Seibeb has ordered the employees and counsellors to avoid going to the office while he is finding legal remedies for the matter.
On Saturday the members of the police Special Reserve Force were called to the scene to remove the protestors.
Videos seen by the Windhoek Observer showed members of the force carrying elderly women and young men out of the premises.
On Sunday, Kelvin Dausab, a concerned group member, was also charged with breaking the padlock of the TA main entrance gate.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) national spokesperson Mabasen Narib, in a statement issued on Sunday, has expressed solidarity for the community of the Dâures Constituency for standing up for their rights and further condemning the arrest of community members.
“President Hendrik Gaobaeb and the entire UDF party leadership would like to officially condemn the acts of the Dauredaman leadership towards the people. We believe that a traditional leader should strive to provide leadership even in the most difficult times,” he said.
Narib added that no leader should ever unleash the strength and the wrath of the police against the defenceless people.
“The masses are only demanding justice and good governance, Police brutality was uncalled for. We equally condemn the actions of the police as the protestors were visibly manhandled,” Narib cited.
Landless People’s Movement (LPM) national events coordinator Ivan Skrywer termed the arrest as cruel and inhuman.
“The Special Reserve Force (SRF) is a police unit within the Namibian police force, and it’s not the military. Hence Kauna Shikuambi’s sentiments that seem to suggest that the moment the (SRF) arrived on the scene, there was no room for any dialogue or negotiations to reach an amicable solution, doesn’t even arise,” he stated.
Skrywer added that this is not the time for police cover-up, as these are serious and materially sensitive societal dynamics, given the fact that people are frustrated and are fighting for their rights and space.
He said there was no state of emergency that required the services of the SRF.
“Primarily the police are known to be officers of peace. Hence we condemn the actions of the police in Uis, and we say leave our people alone,” he stated.
||Araseb is expected to appear in the Omaruru Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Denise Dausas, a concerned community member, said the group is engaging a lawyer for bail.
“We are still busy contacting lawyers. So on Monday, we are heading to the Omaruru police station, where they took him to ask for bail,” she explained.
Dausas said the camping onsite demonstration at the traditional authority’s office was necessitated due to failed attempts by the community to get feedback from the traditional authority or the line ministry.
She said that it was a peaceful demonstration, that Seibeb’s narrative is completely false, and that all they want are answers.
Meanwhile, Windhoek-based activist Shaun Gariseb said they are busy organising ||Araseb’s release.
Gariseb said the whole community has turned against the chief for allowing such police conduct to happen to his people.
“The last time he had a public meeting was in 2019. That Chief is compromised. I know that issue well. I have been helping with advice for a minute, and he is in bed with the government and Chinese,” he claimed.
A meeting between the traditional authority and the community has been called for Tuesday.
Calls to Chief Seibe’s daughter, who is the secretary of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority, Aldema/Uises, went unanswered.
