Traditional authority turns to court for recognition

The Blouwes Traditional Authority in the //Karas Region is taking the urban and rural development ministry to court for failing to recognise their leader as a traditional chief of that community.In court documents, the authority, and senior councillor Johannes Baarman, seek an order compelling the ministry to withdraw or set aside the declaration of a chieftainship dispute with the authority. Blouwes is formally recognised by government as the traditional authority for the community of Blouwes, consisting of the !Kharo-!Oa and //Khawoben traditional clans. However, a section of //Khawoben clan has broken away from the authority and wants to establish its own authority and community within the jurisdictional area of the Blouwes Traditional Authority.The applicants further asked the court for an order compelling the ministry to exercise its statutory duty to formally consider the application to designate Johannes Benjamin Koopman as the chief of the Blouwes Traditional Authority. They submitted that the costs of the application should be granted against the ministry and Salomon Kopper and Dawid Casius Gertze who were also cited as respondents.The formal application to designate Koopman as chief of the authority and its community was submitted as far back as 7 January 2013.The authority says the ministry has delayed the said application for designation despite that it met all the requirements as prescribed by the Traditional Authorities Act.The ministry maintains that the issue falls within the ambit of a formal dispute. They stated that a Chieftain Succession Dispute was issued on 5 June 2015. The ministry is said to have proposed an election as a solution to the dispute. However the election, scheduled for 19 June 2016, did not take place as the parties to the alleged dispute refused to participate.“Despite this the ministry wrongfully, negligently and in breach of their statutory duty failed to consider the application for designation of Koopman as Chief of the Blouwes Traditional Authority,” the authority alleges. FRED GOEIEMAN

Traditional authority turns to court for recognition

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-23

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Traditional authority turns to court for recognition

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-23

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