Lahja Nashuuta
The /Khomanin Traditional Authority has rejected a proposal for Khomas region constituency boundaries to be redrawn.
The community said the suggestion was not in the public interest, but rather an attempt to suit the political ideas of some political parties, and push the /Khomanin out of their ancestral land.
“We understand that they want to give some portion of Dolam to Katutura Central and John Pandeni. This is our concern, because we feel the proposed boundaries demarcation is meant to divide our community, and that the authority is uniting voters against self-interested politicians,” said activist Shaun Gariseb.
They further announced that they will draw up their own demarcation suggestions that will be submitted to the commission in two weeks.
The community held a public meeting in Katutura’s Dolam area yesterday to air their frustration on the proposed new boundaries, as submitted by the Khomas Regional Council last week.
That submission was rejected, and the governor tendered an apology on behalf of the region because her office allegedly failed to consult the public.
Walter /Hâseb, the special advisor to the /Khomanin gaos Juliana Gawa-!Nas, expressed dismay with the manner in which the region drew up the new proposed boundaries. He maintained the proposed demarcation has been structured in a way that allows gerrymandering, a deliberate ploy by the party in power to manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency to gain political advantage over other parties.
“This is not for accessibility and service delivery purposes, as they claim,” said Gariseb.
Rosa Namises, who has been advocating for /Khomanin land restitution for years, proposed that instead of stretching constituency boundaries to the region’s edge, the government should rather allocate available land to the landless /Khomanin communities.
“It has been 34 years since independence, and the /Khomanin are still looking for land. The authority continues to push our people off the remaining pieces of land by trying to expand its jurisdiction towards the borders,” she said.
The /Khomanin is a community known to be the first to settle in the Khomas region around the 1800s. This community was relocated during the colonial era from the central areas they inhabited to spaces such as Okakarara, Okombahe and Otjimbingwe.
Furthermore, the traditional authority has demanded that the government should rename the areas within the Khomas jurisdiction that carry colonial names.
Katutura Central councillor Vezemba Rodman Katjaimo yesterday said he was not behind the proposed move. He said he has no qualms with moving Dolam to Katutura East, but that it was not his idea. Katjaimo invited the community to meet him this weekend. “We have a consultative meeting scheduled for this weekend with the Dolam community to deliberate on the issue,” he said.