Govt refuses chief status for //Garoëb

Urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni has declined an application for long-serving Damara chief Justus //Garoëb to be recognised as paramount chief.

//Garoëb applied to be recognised as chief of the ≠Nukhoen traditional district in the Kunene region, as well as to be recognised as the paramount chief of the Damara people.

//Garoëb, who served as a member of parliament in the National Assembly from 1990 to 2015, sent his application to Uutoni’s office through the office of Kunene governor Marius Sheya this year.

“I have assessed your application form and discovered that part B of the form was omitted. Furthermore, the area of jurisdiction indicated in your form as the communal area inhabited by your community, falls under the already recognised Swartbooi Traditional Authority,” Uutoni wrote on 21 September.

“Based on the above, your application for re­cognition cannot be approved.”

//Garoëb has been recognised by Damara speaking people as their overall chief for over 40 years.

Damara chief council secretary general Abner Xoagub told The Namibian this week the non-recognition of //Garoëb means he is currently a ceremonial chief as he does not have an area of jurisdiction.

Currently, //Garoëb does not have power to allocate land like other traditional leaders do and his house is also not recognised as a royal house.

Xoagub said this is the first time //Garoëb applied to be chief after he degazetted himself as chief nearly 23 years ago.

At the time, eight chiefs were assigned as chiefs of the Damara Traditional Council.

Before //Garoëb degazetted himself as chief, he was the overall chief of the Damara Traditional Authority, he said.

“In 2001, the eight chiefs came together and decided to make him a ceremonial chief. In 2023, Gaob Justus //Garoëb applied to be a chief,” he said.

According to Xoagub, the Damara chief’s council consists of eight recognised traditional leaders. They are Julianne Gawanas, Petrus Uukongo, Immanuel /Gâseb, Sagaria Seibeb, Max Haraseb, Joshua Seibeb, Jeremia Gaobaheb and Stephanus Gariseb.

“The above are the substantive members of the Damara chief’s council and rightfully recognised by the Namibian government under the Traditional Authorities Act and the Damara supreme customary law,” he said.

/Gâseb told The Namibian yesterday that besides applying to be chief of the ≠Nukhoen traditional district, //Garoëb also applied to be the paramount chief of the Damara people.

He said the non-recognition of //Garoëb as chief or paramount chief does not affect the Damara community.

“You see the requirements from the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development… he did not fulfil those requirements. The first thing is the place or jurisdiction where you are going to be chief. The place he applied for is for the Swartbooi Traditional Authority. Nobody can take from another one’s area and say this is my area and recognise me in that area (as chief),” he said.

He added that //Garoëb wanted to be the chief of “300 000 Damaras”.

“If you talk about 300 000 Damaras, you are talking about all the Damaras in Namibia, including me and I must also be his subject or under him as headman. I don’t know what the plan is.”

/Gâseb said Namibia does not need to have a paramount chief as the country is independent and does not have kingdoms.

“We cannot recognise anybody as paramount chief. We cannot allow those kinds of things,” he said.

Uutoni did not answer calls to his mobile on Tuesday, while ministry spokesperson Etuna Shikalepo did not respond to an email sent to her on Tuesday.

//Garoëb’s personal assistant John Khamuseb told The Namibian yesterday the matter is sensitive and is being dealt with from a different perspective.

He said the land which //Garoëb applied for is part of former Damaraland.

“Unfortunately, the minister, without proper consultation, said that area belongs to the Swartbooi Traditional Authority. The Swartbooi Traditional Authority has never ruled or managed that area,” he said.

Khamuseb added that the land they applied for is occupied by fewer than 1 000 people.

He also confirmed that //Garoëb applied to be the paramount chief of the Damara people.

“He is responsible for more than 300 000 Damara speaking people in Namibia and in the diaspora. We are law-abiding citizens. That is why we applied so that our chief is included in the highest decision making of the government of Namibia, and for the continuation of his dynasty that was going on from the 13th century. It’s in that context that we applied for him to be paramount chief,” he said.