Traditional chiefs oppose same-sex ruling

Eight northern traditional chiefs claim the Supreme Court ruling directing the government to recognise same-sex marriages legally concluded outside Namibia disregards Namibia’s accepted norms and traditional practices.

The chiefs say not accepting norms and traditional practices would defeat the rights of community members and render them useless “to that of the Western culture which they spearhead under the guise of financial aid”.

“In the final analysis this decision amounts to a complete interference of the Western culture in the Namibian culture . . ,” the chiefs say.

The chiefs said this in a letter to the chairperson of the Council of Traditional Leaders in Namibia, chief Immanuel /­Gâseb, this week.

The chairperson of the traditional authorities in the north, chief Ndilimani Iipumbu, yesterday said the letter was signed by all northern chiefs.

They are from the Uukolonkadhi, Uukwaluudhi, Ombalantu, Ongandjera, Ombadja, Uukwambi, Oukwanyama and Ondonga traditional authorities.

Iipumbu said these authorities will call a media conference to address the matter once they receive a response from /Gâseb.

In the letter, the eight northern traditional authorities say same-sex marriage in Namibia is contrary to the provision of Article 14 of the Namibian Constitution.

“As a result, the Namibian nation is lost and scrambled by the diabolic situation born out of the decision referred to above. The decision also seems to concretise the notion that ‘the happiness of the slave is in the comfort of the slave owner or master’, of which Namibia is not and cannot be enslaved by Western countries through their horrible and immoral agendas,” the chiefs say.

They say as traditional leaders, they have a collective responsibility to steer the behaviour of communities under their leadership in a commonly accepted direction.

They say before the Supreme Court’s ruling, communities were supposed to be engaged in a constructive manner.

“It is therefore against this backdrop that the eight northern traditional authorities are hereby rejecting the decision of the Supreme Court and are appealing for the head of state and the parliament of the Republic of Namibia to nullify such decision and call upon the Supreme Court to revise its decision in terms of Article 81 of the Namibian Constitution.

“In that the decision is contradicted by Article 14 of the Constitution and strongly considering the impact such decision will have on traditional authorities,” the chiefs say.

This week, /Gâseb said: “This is not the kind of freedom Namibian people had in mind when they fought for the liberation of this country. If we surrender to this wave of immorality in our communities, it will be a betrayal of our sons and daughters who died for the liberation of our country.”

He said traditional leaders are calling on all Namibians, Africans and the world at large to join them in condemning same-sex marriage.

However, the executive director of NamRights, Phil ya Nangoloh, on Wednesday condemned verbal attacks on the judiciary by “unscrupulous elements as well as political opportunists in our society”.

‘SHEER IGNORANCE’

Ya Nangoloh said some of the attacks are based upon sheer ignorance of what rights and freedoms are guaranteed by the Namibian Constitution.

He said some of the attacks are based on misguided religious beliefs, while others are based on personal views and sheer hypocrisy.

“Most of the hypocrisy in some of those attacks lie in the fact their perpetrators claim our Namibian Constitution is written for us and/or even imposed upon us by Americans or Europeans.

“This is as if the Holy Bible was written by Africans,” Ya Nangoloh said.