Tsintsabis a settlement with two feuding chiefs

AT TSINTSABIS if you were to ask for directions to the house of the chief of the Tsintsabis settlement today, you are likely to be directed to two houses.

One belongs to Thaneb Geelbooi, and the other to Paul Gaigowab. These two men are entangled in a fierce power struggle, with each man claiming chieftainship of the settlement. The community in the settlement is also divided, with one section supporting Geelbooi and the other showing allegiance to Gaigowab.

The Namibian visited Geelbooi, who has been chief since the 1990s. During the past two years, this paper has been introduced to Geelbooi as the only chief of the area. Last weekend, however, Geelbooi spoke of a clique which wanted to unseat him and enrich themselves by selling and allocating plots.

“I have been the chief of this location for a long time. I have led these people well, and there are now people who want to unseat me because they want to enrich themselves and their friends,” he stated.

Geelbooi said certain individuals at the settlement and surrounding farms decided to tarnish his image with the aim of turning the community against him.

“Those spearheading the campaign chose Gaigowab as the chief. They introduced him to some community members as their chief. But I am the original chief,” he said. Geelbooi further noted that there was division at the settlement, and people, especially visitors, get confused as to who the chief is. “I stay with my people. He (Gaigowab) stays with his faction. Life goes on, son,” he told The Namibian.

Asked what he meant by people wanting to enrich themselves and who they were, he said: “There is Moses Khumub. That guy is destroying this settlement. He mismanaged funds for the tree slipper project here. Because of that, he is orchestrating my removal,” he charged.

Geelbooi said he was part of the project management and discovered some irregularities, which he questioned, and that led to some board members and Khumub seeking his removal as chief in order to cover up their tracks in the disappearance of millions of dollars.

Gaigowab declined to comment on the issue, although he said that he was the elected chief.

Khumub, who is also the Swapo party district coordinator for the Guinas constituency, said he was never involved in the power struggle between Geelbooi and Gaigowab. He, however, said Geelbooi was never chief of Tsintsabis, but only a headman.

Ironically, he claimed that the residents had lost confidence in Geelbooi and elected Gaigowab as chief. He stated that the chief of the Hai//om, who are the majority residents of Tsintsabis, is David //Khamuxab, who stays at Outjo.

“People only want to tarnish my name. I was never involved in his removal. That issue even happened six years ago, and I do not want to open old wounds. I respect Geelbooi as an elder, and I do not want to comment further,” he stated.

He also refuted allegations that Geelbooi was being removed to cover up tracks of financial irregularities, in which Khumub is also implicated.