OPUWO – The exclusion of unrecognised traditional leaders from the Traditional Authority Act and Communal Land Reformed Act needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, the head of training on the Communal Land Support (CLS) project says.
“In the Kunene Region, there are a lot of unrecognised traditional leaders who are unable to allocate land to their subjects, because they are not authorised to do so by either the Traditional Authority Act or the Communal Land Reform Act,” stressed Louise Shixwameni here last Friday.
Speaking to Nampa at the end of a five-day workshop on the Communal Land Reform Act for members of the Otjikaoko Traditional Authority, she said the Communal Land Reform Act and the Traditional Authority Act, 2000 No 25 permit traditional authorities or chiefs to allocate customary land rights to their subjects. “This means that only recognised traditional leaders are allowed to give customary land rights or leasehold rights to people in their areas of jurisdiction, which deprives community members who live in villages of traditional leaders not recognised by government the opportunity to claim their land rights, or to register their land,” she explained.
Shixwameni further noted that the Traditional Authority Act of 2000 is silent on the unrecognised leaders’ duties, and thus leaves some communities at a disadvantage.
Currently, unrecognised traditional leaders in the Kunene Region refer their subjects to recognised traditional authorities to register their land rights, a practice, which is deemed illegal and one which could lead to land conflict in future. She said in line with the Communal Land Support project’s policy review, they will need to discuss, as a matter of urgency, the issue of unrecognised traditional leaders, in consultation with the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development.
At the moment, the CLS project is tasked with training traditional authority leaders on the Communal Land Reform Act, but only trains traditional leaders who are recognised by government.
However, Chief Veziruapi Tjavara of the Otjikaoko Traditional Authority invited more than 14 unrecognised traditional authorities in the Kunene Region to participate in the one-week workshop on the Communal Land Reform Act. This resulted in a request by all unrecognised traditional authority leaders present for the CLS project to be taken to their areas for the benefit of their subjects as well. Shixwameni informed them that she would take the request to her seniors for consideration. The CLS project falls under the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, and is funded by the Millennium Challenge Account – Namibia.
– Nampa