The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development says at this stage it cannot confirm the validity of the elections held by the |Khomanin community to remove their Gaos Juliane Gawa-!Nas and her council from the office.

A vote of no confidence was instituted against Gaos Gawa-!Nas and her council on 16 May. 

The vote follows months of growing dissatisfaction within the |Khomanin community over the traditional authority leadership. 

The community has accused Gaos Gawa-!Nas of abusing her powers, selling land illegally and misusing community funds. 

Meanwhile, the |Khomanin Traditional Authority rejected the elections held by community members as illegal, saying those who steered the elections did not follow the correct procedures. The authority also denounced the allegations against the chief and the council. 

Approached for comment, the Executive Director in the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development said the ministry acknowledged receipt of a letter from the |Khomanin Traditional Authority Steering Committee on 11 May notifying the ministry of the elections. 

Dr. Wilhelmine Shivute added that the ministry is currently conducting investigations into some of the allegations made by the community members and the traditional authority. 

Shivute clarified that the ministry's internal auditors are conducting these investigations, and the ministry will communicate its official position only after the investigations are complete. 

Preliminary results from the elections indicate that 889 of the 986 people voted in favour of the removal of the chief and her council, while 86 voted for the status quo to continue, with 11 spoilt votes. 

The results are from elections that were held in the Windhoek, !Nauspoort, ≠Arovlei, Kharoxas, ≠Goas and ||Ganaxas. 

Other |Khomanin communities in Otjimbingwe, Farm Versailles (Ver-sail-les) and Baumgartsbraun (Baum-garts-bran) are yet to hold elections.