The |Khomanin traditional community on Monday officially handed over a petition to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to remove its Gaos, Juliane Gawa-!Nas.

This follows voting sessions held by the community last month to remove Gawa-!Nas and her council for allegedly selling land and keeping donations meant for the community.

Majority voted for her removal.

The community had previously indicated that they do not have confidence in minister James Sankwasa to take action as he previously said traditional chiefs can only be removed through processes led by royal families and not by communities alone.

However, the Traditional Authorities Act allows for the removal of chiefs or heads of traditional communities from office by community members, provided there is sufficient reason and the process is in accordance with customary law.

Despite that, the community signed and handed the petition to Sankwasa.

This was confirmed by ministry spokesperson Etuna Shikalepo on Wednesday.

Steering committee member Shaun Gariseb on Monday said if the minister’s answer is not satisfying, the community will take him to court.

“We will force him to explain how he can ignore nearly 99% of the breaches of our customary law, the Namibian Constitution, the Traditional Authorities Act and the supreme laws of the Damara people by chief Juliane,” he said.

He said the submission will be backed by the financial audit pending from the traditional authority, with a criminal case to be opened against her afterwards.

“When we called for dialogue, we were insulted, arrested and called names. There’s no turning back now. We’ve also informed Sankwasa that Gawa-!Nas is no longer recognised by the community,” he said.

Gariseb said the will of the people must and will prevail.

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