Kaikhabe Daman chief calls for unity over rivalry

Kaikhabe Daman Traditional Community designated chief Tuvemue Mbaisako says pride, rivalry and endless disputes over traditional leadership must be set aside.

Speaking last week, Mbaisako said the Traditional Authorities Act and customary laws are interpreted differently by every faction within traditional communities.

He said this is not because the laws are unclear, but because the factions have allowed personal ambitions, pride and the desire for power to cloud their judgement.

“I was born in the 1960s in southern Namibia.

“For more than six decades, I have witnessed divisions, bitterness and conflict among people from the same community over the same traditional throne.

“The same leadership battles that existed during my youth are still with us today.

“Sadly, instead of diminishing with time, these disputes have only intensified and continue to grow,” Mbaisako said.

He said it is time to choose dialogue over division, reconciliation over resentment, and unity over conflict.

“Only then can we build the peaceful and prosperous Namibia that our children deserve,” Mbaisako said.

He said unity creates opportunities for development, peace, and progress for future generations.

He added that Namibia’s tribes, or any other community, all need one another.

Mbaisako was responding to remarks made by Berseba constituency councillor Raymond Jossop at the //Haboben Traditional festival at Blouwes in the ||Kharas region over the weekend.

/Jossop said disunity among traditional authorities is one of the greatest threats facing communities in southern Namibia.

“He said leadership disputes have become public battles that weaken communities, confuse young people and delay development.

“We cannot continue to blame the government.

“We cannot continue to blame the minister of urban and rural development.

“We cannot continue to run to lawyers, hoping they will solve what is fundamentally a crisis of leadership, character, and conscience.”

Jossop said young people see leaders as mentors who offer guidance, yet all they see are leaders who cannot sit together in the same room.

“There is no lawyer, no minister and no president who will come and solve this problem for us.

“We cannot continue blaming the government.

“Unity is not a gift that will be handed to us. It is a choice we must make,” Jossop said.

||Kharas governor Dawid Gertze at the festival encouraged young people to pursue vocational training and technical careers such as welding, plumbing, electrical work, mechanics, hospitality and heavy machinery operation.

Gertze also urged young people to explore self-employment through poultry, piggery, livestock farming and cooperatives, while taking advantage of government support programmes and available training opportunities.

“The ||Kharas region is rich in opportunities in the mining, agriculture, tourism and renewable energy sectors, but many young people are failing to benefit because they have not equipped themselves with the necessary skills,” he said.

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