By Magreth Nunuhe
WINDHOEK – Leaders who fell under the reign of late Ovaherero Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako remembered him as a unifier who did not only think of his own tribe but wanted all tribes to be united in the name of Namibia.
Gottlieb Kahikopo, Chief of Otjimbingwe, said he learned from the leadership style of Riruako during his many encounters with the chief and one of the things that came out strongly was not to mix politics with tradition.
“His dream of unity fuelled his demands for reparation for descendants of victims of the German genocidal war,” he said, adding it was why Riruako approached the Nama people – who together with the Ovaherero also lost an immense number of people in the war – to fight for restitution for their people.
Kahikopo said Riruako further sought a working relationship and cooperation with other communities, such as the Ondonga Kingdom under King Kauluma and the Aakwanyama Kingdom, and he also attended the installation of Damara King Chief Justus Garoëb.
“I learned from him to seek unity with all Namibian tribes – something that every leader should do,” he said.
Chief David Kavari of Otuvero in Okaoko said Riruako brought harmony to many disputes in his area and installed many leaders as well.
Riruako also assisted many Ovahimba children to get a university education, especially in the 1970s, by soliciting scholarships from the United Nations in New York.
Kavari said that Riruako was such a down-to-earth person that when he visited the Okaoko area, he never wanted to sleep in a hotel or lodge but always slept in their traditional homes and ate from the same plate.
“He opened our eyes regarding the fight for reparation. Germans killed our people here at Otjitunduua, Sesfontein and Okaokotavi,” he said.
Chief Kaupanga Zakekua of Omuhiva in Okaoko described the late Riruako, who was also a close relative, as someonewho always preached unity.
Zakekua says he remembers that Riruako helped the Ovahimba people during a time of severe drought in the 1980s by donating hunting rifles to Okaoko families.
The families either used the rifles for hunting or sold them to buy cattle.
“In Okaoko we breathed through him,” he stressed, adding that Chief Maharero laid the foundation for unity in the 1800s and the leadership structure has existed since then.
Mike Venaani, former Nudo Youth League secretary for information and publicity during the 1970s said Riruako was very popular and even when he was in exile at the time when Chief Clemens Kapuuo died, he was unanimously chosen to become the next leader of the Ovaherero people.
Venaani said Riruako, who was also the nephew of Chief Hosea Kutako, was then already a member of the Chief’s Council and had a lot of insight into the history of the Ovaherero people.
He said that the late paramount chief immediately started uniting the Ovaherero clans and coordinated with chiefs of the different areas on the difficulties they were encountering.
Chief Riruako, 79, died on 2 June in the Roman Catholic Hospital in Windhoek after a short illness.
Obituary: Paramount Chief Kuaima Kakurundiro Riruako
Chief Kuaima Riruako was born in Otjewe Village in the Aminuis Constituency in the Omaheke Region – the bastion of the anti-colonial struggle of the Chiefs’ Council under the leadership of Chief Hosea Kutako.
Born to Amon Riruako and Uiiue Renate Veseevete Riruako on 24 April 1935, like any rural boy of his time, he tended to livestock and hunting for subsistence.
Upbringing and influence of his parents
Like any of his peers whose parents came and learned from their parents who survived the genocide, the fire was the place for education for all Hereros up to the 1970s. The culture was still not watered down by western education and influences and indigenous knowledge was transferred especially by the household educators, the mothers and grandmothers, while skills to survive attacks from wild animals and political education and history were transferred by fathers and grandfathers.
Traditional knowledge
He had immense knowledge of indigenous, traditional, general folklore, traditional lineages, Namibian history and relations. He was also a deeply spiritual man and had special connection with his ancestors who acted as his guardian angels.
Maternal lineage (ejanda)
Chief’s Riruako’s mother Uiiue Renate Veseevete Riruako was the daughter of Kamungerenjau Veseevete (father) and Katjomenje (mother). Renate had siblings Kaitao Veseevete and Kanavita Veseevete. Veseevete was an uncle to Chief Kambazembi, and Kambazembi and Chief Maharero son of Chief Tjamuaha were nephews.
Paternal lineage (oruzo)
The Chief’s grandfather was Utuametambo Riruako veteran of the 1904 war and a great inspiration of the Chief. He was the father of Amon Riruako a member of the Aminuis Chief’s Council and messenger of the main Chief’s Council.
Amon Riruako was praise-sung as Omukwendjandje from the Otjiporo clan.
The Chief has siblings, the eldest being Kamunduatjike the mother of Dr Hoze Riruako and Karusuko the mother of Karinjanderua and the wife of Muingona Jonathan Katjimuine.
Education
and mentorship
The Chief attended school up to Grade 8 (Standard 6) at the St Barnabas Primary School in Windhoek, after having attended Rietquelle Primary in Aminuis for only 3 months under the leadership of a missionary Dr John Fisher. The Chief attended the Kwame Nkrumah School of Ideology in Accra, Ghana in the late 1960’s and in the 1970’s he did an Associate BA at the University of New York.
Employment history
He worked as a newspaper boy in the late 1950’s for the John Meinert Printing group.
Years in the USA
Whilst studying in the US, Chief Riruako like most Namibians prior to independence actively participated in canvassing support for the liberation struggle of Namibia, as part-time political activist. He was de facto the leader of those supporting Nudo.
They were involved in petitioning the UN at the various forums of the General Assembly up until 1974/5 when the role of sole authenticity was conferred upon Swapo. Chief Kapuuo from time to time from 1974 till 1975 visited the US to address the UN Assembly.
Because of the breaking up of the National Convention in 1975 Chief Kapuuo and others inside the country reverted to other formations that decided to negotiate with South Africa, leading to the formation of the DTA in 1978. Soon thereafter Chief Kapuuo was assassinated and a successor was sought in Namibia, whereby Chief Riruako was identified to the nation as the successor whilst in Paris on a UN mission.
His return and coronation
The selection of paramount chiefs is a democratic process; his chieftainship was proposed at Okahitua. The community first went to the Tjamuaha clan to provide a leader. They came with the name of Kaimbire Tjamuaha, but the community declined, because they perceived him to be violent and that he would create problems for the nation. This demystified why Riruako was chosen as heir apparent by Chief Clemens Kapuuo. The most important thing was that all clans on the day supported the selection and lived by it until early 1983.
Pre and Post-Independence Political Climate in Namibia
Upon his return the Chief took the helm of Nudo, which had joined the DTA after the death of Kapuuo. The 1980’s saw the creation of another intermediate forum for the internal groupings called the MPC, which was in cahoots with the South African Government. This was also the era of internal upheaval by the students and decisive battles being fought by Swapo in Cuito Cuanavale, which led to the implementation of Resolution 435. The advent of the Traditional Authorities Act in 1995 also brought disunity and division within the Herero group, whereas the majority still remained unrecognized in the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA).
Fight for reparation
Of all the milestones during his lifetime, that engaged his body, soul and mind, was the issue of the Ovaherero Genocide and the concomitant issue of reparation that he demanded from the German Government. He was very much influenced by the resolutions of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), especially the one on Reparation for Colonial Exploitation and Slavery in Africa at its session held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 27 May – 1 June 1991 and during which time the Ovaherero Genocide was also acknowledged.
When the former German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Khol, visited Namibia in September 1995, Paramount Chief Riruako wanted to see him on the genocide and reparation issue but was not allowed by the German Embassy in Windhoek to do so.
This did not augur well for the Chief and thereafter he decided to take the issue to the courts in the United States. The case was thrown out of court on some legal technicalities. Although this was a temporary setback for him, it nevertheless highlighted the issue of the Ovaherero Genocide to a larger audience of the world.
He realised that he could not fight the issue of the Ovaherero Genocide alone and decided to solicit the support of the Namibian Government and, for that, he tabled his famous “Riruako Motion” in our parliament, which was unanimously adopted.