Page 9 - CITATION-2 (Honorary Doctorate)(Justus GAROEB)

Gaob Justus |Uruhe //Garoëb
NAMCOL Annual Report 2019/2020

them, is Irmgard’s commitment, loyalty and immense sense of dedication and
understanding of Gaob’s calling to leadership.
Your Excellency, Mr Chancellor Sir, Allow me now to explore a little about the Honoris Causa
traditional leadership of Gaob ǁGaroëb.

Gaob Justus ǁGaroëb is the 24th traditional leader of the Damara according to
the genealogy of the Damara Gaobs. The name Justus, in Latin refers to an
act of fairness, just or upright. It is not our business today, to assess indepth
the relationship between a name and one’s character and or behaviour. What
we can state, however, is that Goab’s self-presentation during his youthful
years displayed signs of potential leadership, which Gaob Dawid Goreseb
of Okombahe rightly observed during the historic visit by the young man in
Okombahe in the 1960s. At the time, the young ǁGaroëb was a Clerk at the
Commissioner’s Office. At that time, Gaob Goreseb, himself, not a member of
the royal family, observed: “Justus, you should become a headman, you have
great potential to lead our people”. At the time, this statement did not mean much
to a young and motivated civil servant. Gaob ǁGaroëb’s only intentions at the
time were two: Firstly, to help Gaob Goreseb find some educated members of
the community who would support him in his leadership activities, and secondly,
to do all what was possible to end apartheid. He always believed that education
was central to good leadership, and that an educated leader would always be
in an advantaged position to lead people. He was thus a strong proponent for
education for all, every time, anywhere and for everyone.
To achieve these two goals, Gaob Justus ǁGaroëb associated himself with the
Damara leadership and paid courtesy visits to the leaders, as it was the case
in the 1960s when he first visited Chief Fritz |Howahe Gariseb in Windhoek,
and later visited Gaob Dawid Goreseb at Okombahe. His strategy worked.
In 1969, he was elected as the representative of the people of wider Khorixas
under the influence of Chief T.H.F. !Gaeb, Chief Petrus !Ganeb, Chief Abraham
Gariseb, and Edward O. ǁGaroëb. In 1971 under the reigning Gaob Dawid
Goreseb, young Justus was instrumental in mobilizing all headmen from
the different ǂNūkhoen ǁAes (Damara clans) to the formation of the Damara
Raad (Damara Council). ǁGaroëb became the Senior Headman in 1972 at the
age of 29 years. As a Senior Headman or Chief, as they called him at that

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