The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development is appealing for calm, patience and tolerance in a dispute between the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority at Uis and its community members.
The dispute revolves around community members demanding the removal of chief Sagarias Seibeb over allegations of financial mismanagement and a lack of development since his coronation.
The concerned community members have held demonstrations since January and are currently staging a sit-in at the premises of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority.
They say they will not move until Seibeb has been removed from the chieftainship.
Executive director of urban and rural development Nghidinua Daniel says the ministry has received complaints of discontent and alleged financial and administrative maladministration from the concerned community, and, therefore, decided to remove the current gazetted chief.
Daniel was speaking to The Namibian yesterday.
He said the community has requested the minister in terms of Section 8(3) of the Traditional Authorities Act to notify the president of its decision to remove the chief.
“However, as per the due process, the minister has to follow the ministry if appealing to the concerned group and all members of the Dâure Daman community to be calm and patient, and to exercise tolerance and allow the ministry to conclude its investigation and due processes,” Daniel said.
He said the concerned members met with minister of urban and rural development Erastus Uutoni on 28 January, as well as the deputy minister, and were informed of the status of the investigation and the way forward.
Daniel said an investigation report on the dispute is currently with Seibeb and the gazetted traditional councillors to accord them the opportunity to reply to its findings.
Once the traditional authority has studied the report and replied to the minister in writing, the ministry will finalise the investigation report and decide on the steps to be followed, he said.
“To effectively perform his role of notifying and advising the president of the removal of a head/chief of a traditional authority, as provided in Section 8(3) of the Traditional Authorities Act, it is expected of the minister to satisfy himself with the reasons for the removal and further that a due process has been followed.
“It is in keeping with this that the minister first commissioned an investigation into alleged irregularities and is awaiting the final report, with responses from parties implicated or mentioned therein, before he can make an informed decision on the matter and how to proceed,” the executive director said.
COMMUNITY RESPONDS
Community spokesperson Cornelia Atjiwara says community members are aggrieved as the chief and his leaders are allegedly the only people benefiting from deals made with Chinese nationals on the area’s natural resources, while they themselves live in poverty.
She says the community, therefore, demands that the chief and his daughter be removed from office so they could elect a leader of their choice.
“Our main concern is the lack of progress at Uis since the chief’s coronation in 2018.
“The settlement has seen no infrastructural or economic development, making us dissatisfied with the chief’s leadership and governance,” Atjiwara says.
The sit-in continues despite a court order secured by Seibeb to remove the protestors, among them senior citizens.
Group chairperson Jimmy //Areseb was arrested by the Namibian Police’s Special Reserve Force in January.
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