One wonders whether the recently adopted Mbanderu Constitution came at the right time, when the current Chief is in a critical condition. The Mbanderu Chief has reached an age where he needs a strong team to help him keep the Kindgom strong and united. A committee was entrusted with the drafting of the Constitution of the Vambanderu community. In the process, the committee had to defer on certain issues in the draft Constitution. Consequently, some members from the committee took the draft Constitution to the Mbanderu Chief for approval and it was approved while the other group opposed it. Points under dispute were the titles: such as King, the abolishment of the Head of Chiefs title and the way the Constitution was taken to the Chief for final decision. The little cheer the Mbanderu community used to enjoy is likely to disappear. Many communities hailed the unity and the strength of the Mbanderu community during those hard and harsh times, during the struggle for the emancipation of our motherland Namibia. There were those who broke away of course, but very minimally. A number of barriers, including the disregard of the concerned group’s point of view, personal differences among the Mbanderu Chief’s subordinates, the unknown reason by the Current Mbanderu Traditional Council for not allowing the issue to be discussed, the members of the committee which took the Constitution for adoption, somehow they have a fear if they allow the discussion of the issue, somehow their intentions would not be met. All that hampered reconciliation. It is the new Mbanderu-adopted Constitution that has put the whole Mbanderu at loggerheads. There is displeasure among the Mbanderu community members at large, whether you are concerned or not about the situation. These are temptations to our Mbanderu leadership. It is a test to all of us to see if we are a strong community that can withstand a conflict of this size, small as it appears. It is absurd to deviate from the real issue to something else which is not the issue. There is nothing like the Kahuure Group and the King Munjuku Nguvauva II followers. The issue is the adopted Constitution. Strategically, the one group came up with words that would move away the Mbanderus from the issue under discussion. The concerned group falls under Chief Munjuku Nguvauva II, Kahuure is a senior-chief under King Munjuku Nguvauva II. If you conduct an interview within the Mbanderu community about the newly adopted Mbanderu Constitution, many people do not yet know the Constitution. Many people do not know what the new law has for them. One thing is the terminology used such as king, chiefs, headmen and paramount chief as opposed to the current ones used by the House of Chiefs, like Tradition Council. The confusion comes in when translating them into the Mbanderu language. There seems to be no definite translation for the words. In Mbanderu/Herero we have only two words,(Ombara no Muhona). However, there should be a compromise to reconcile the two warring groups, and the question is how, by who and when. The Constitution has been adopted and there seems to be no reversal, there is no question of legality of the already adopted Constitution. Imperatively, a platform must be created where the two groups will forgive each other. I see no solution as the issue is heating up: some people are very irritated and would not come together easily. Esau Muzeu
2006-03-312024-04-23By Staff Reporter