Two politicians and an academic are set to compete for the position of Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) paramount chief (PC).
This is despite professor Mutjinde Katjiua having already been ‘elected’ as the Ombara Otjitambi. Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani, Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) president Mike Kavekotora and academic Hoze Riruako were over the weekend endorsed as contenders for the PC position.
The nominations were sanctioned by the OTA faction led by Ovitoto chief Vipuira Kapuuo.
That faction does not recognise Katjiua’s ascendance to the throne.
Approached for comment on Sunday, Kavekotora and Riruako declined to respond, saying it is premature, while Venaani’s phone went unanswered.
When elected, the leader is set to fill the void left by the late Advocate Vekuii Rukoro, who died last year. But since Rukoro’s passing last year, the OTA has been embroiled in a leadership tussle over his successor.
Katjiua’s faction is unshaken by the latest developments.
“The Hereros have a paramount chief in the person of professor Mutjinde Katjiua. There is no vacancy, and the [Vipuira] Kapuuo shenanigans are mere ‘tyd mors’ [time wasting] which deserves no further comment,” was the response from Okamatapati chief Rikambe Uazukuani.
While the Kapuuo faction was busy identifying candidates over the weekend, the Katjiua section assembled at Otjozondema in Gam to commemorate general Lothar von Trotha’s extermination order of 02 October 1904 to wipe the Hereros and Namas off the face of the earth.
Kapuuo, who is the chairperson of the OTA, considers himself the acting paramount chief.
Katjiua was installed in July as PC by certain quarters within the OTA.
In essence, if the Kapuuo group succeeds at electing a leader, the OTA will have two paramount chiefs.
The warring factions are also in the local courts over the matter.
Caption: Next Ombara (succession) … Two politicians and an academic are set to compete for the position of Ovaherero Traditional Authority paramount chief.
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