Members of the Iiheke Ya Nakele community in the Oshana Region took to the streets to protest against a controversial business facility currently under construction at the Iiheke ya Nakele site by a prominent businessman based in Oshakati.
The demonstrators expressed their anger towards their headman, who they say is allocating plots in disputed areas, including Iiheke ya Nakele, as well as areas designated for grazing, water sources and cultural sites that should not be developed into residential or industrial zones.
They described the development as unlawful and contrary to previous resolutions.
The community says a public hearing held by the Uukwambi Traditional Authority (UTA) on 22 February 2019 resolved that all sand mine excavation and construction activities at the Iiheke ya Nakele site should be halted pending a final decision on an ongoing dispute between the traditional authority and community members.
To their surprise, they saw a structure set up on the site by a local businessman who has building materials on site and is busy constructing, and the community members were not consulted.
They are calling on the Uukwambi Traditional Authority to respect Namibian laws and protect the Iiheke ya Nakele site, because it is their source of fresh water from time immemorial.
They said they need leaders, not dictators, who are violating traditional authority laws and undermining community members.
According to the community, the approval granted to a businessman from Oshakati to build within the area violates provisions of the Traditional Authorities Act, 2000, including requirements to protect cultural heritage sites and to obtain community consent for major transactions affecting communal interests.
They further allege that environmental procedures required under the Environmental Management Act, 2007, were not followed.
Community representatives also argue that the development contradicts the environmental protection principles contained in Article 95 of the Namibian Constitution.
They said the site is a source of natural freshwater, a culturally significant area, a wetland ecosystem and a sacred burial ground containing ancestral graves.
They have called for the site to be protected from activities they believe could threaten its environmental, cultural and historical value.
They are further dismayed by Urban and Rural Development Minister James Sankwasa, whom they allegedly invited to visit Iiheke ya Nakele and listen to community members' concerns through an invitation letter sent on 22 May this year, but he allegedly did not acknowledge receiving the letter nor respond.