Herero Reconciliation Group
Dear Chief Kapuuo, Chief Tjiundje and all members of the chiefs council and senate of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA).
We are the Ovaherero community from Namibia and the diaspora at large.
Our Namibian national flag is a symbol of our struggle for national unity; it symbolises peace, unity and common loyalty to Namibia for the sake of a peaceful society sustained through reconciliation.
It is for this very reason that we seek your attention in our plea for the reconciliation and unification of the Ovaherero people.
We write as a concerned alliance (Ovaherero reconciliation group), consisting of three groups supporting Chief Vipuira Kapuuo and Chief Bethold Tjiundje – and the third being a supporter of a united Ovaherero community without, vesting their allegiance to a specific chieftainship.
On 24 April 2022, we formed a social media group, using the WhatsApp platform, named ‘Herero Reconciliation’ – and within 24 hours, we had 257 members.
Surely, the chances are bigger that we could have more members if it was not for the limited group size on the WhatsApp allocation.
This displayed that we have over 200 Ovaherero people supporting reconciliation and unification, and who demand an end to divisions and a constant waste of financial and time resources in legal courts.
The aim is to have one great united Ovaherero people reconciled under only one Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA).
In pursuit of this, we recently had two Zoom conference calls – on 26 April 2022 and 2 May 2022.
Our objective is to have the Ovaherero in Namibia and the diaspora collectively find ways to reconcile and be one unified people so we focus our efforts on fighting for matters that affect us all for the betterment of our people.
These are matters such as restoration of our cultural identity, pride, dignity, job creation, scholarship opportunities and investments in viable sectors for the economic emancipation of our people.
We exchanged views and opinions from all sides and a summative conclusion to foster reconciliation and restoration talks between Chief Kapuuo (chairman) and Chief Tjiundje (vice chairman).
It extremely pains our hearts deeply as the younger generation of these once-great people to see ourselves disintegrating into chaos and becoming the laughing stock of other nations.
This situation has destroyed the once strong position we held in our fight for the country’s liberation, repatriation, reparation and restorative justice from the Germans.
It is in this regard, we are humbly imploring you, as your supporters, on both sides of the table, to hear our plea in paving the way for finding an amicable solution to resolving this matter.
We are cognizant that historically, the Ovaherero existed in several clans and sub-communities – each with its own set of traditional leaders.
On 15 June 1863, all the clans and sub-communities came together, and Maharero was elected as the military leader, Muniovita, of all Ovaherero at Otjizingue (the now Otjimbingwe) to lead all the clans in the conflicts against the Namas and Germans.
In 1867, again in Otjizingue (Otjimbingwe), Maharero was elected the first Paramount Chief (Muniouje and Ombara Otjitambi), following the unanimous acceptance by all Ovaherero.
Our humble proposal is as follows:
Engage the two law firms of Chief Kapuuo and Chief Tjiundje.
The law firms representing Chief Kapuuo and Chief Tjiundje should be engaged to draft an engagement and guiding document based on our customary law and common law. In addition, we can also appoint an additional legal entity (as an arbitrator).
Then the two parties (chairman and vice chairman) should meet and sign the reconciliation and unification declaration to send a message to all the Ovaherero people in Namibia and the diaspora that they are here to acknowledge, re-align and re-affirm the unity of 159 years ago.
Hold the first ever unifying chiefs’ council meeting, followed by the senate meeting. These two meetings will be monitored by three law firms to ensure the customary law and common law (Traditional Authorities Act 25 of 2000) are executed accordingly.
How do we maintain peace and unity? We will all rally behind whoever is appointed by the senate election.
It is a heart-wrenching situation to think of what has been happening in our community for the past few months.
So many resources and much energy has gone to waste in the pursuance of this combative way of doing things, which leaves us bitter towards each other.
It is time to come and subject ourselves under the customary laws that have served and helped us govern ourselves with dignity all these years, to honour the legacy of our ancestors, and to continue being a strong, resilient people, who are honourable and take pride in our heritage.