The dispute between the warring factions of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority over the paramount chieftainship may end soon, with the National Unity Democratic Organisation leadership set to intervene.
“Nudo is sharing subjects with OTA, and OTA traditional chiefs are our backbone. We will have a meeting with all OTA traditional chiefs who are members of the party in an effort to create awareness on this dispute, and the negative repercussions it might have towards the governance and stability within the party,” said Nudo president Utjiua Muinjangue while addressing the media yesterday.
She said the decision to interfere was taken during the third national executive committee (NEC) meeting held in the capital over the weekend.
“We have no interest in who the next OTA paramount chief will be. Nudo’s enormous interest is in resolving the disputes among the chiefs, and thus averting the deepening of divisions among the Ovaherero people,” she stated.
Muinjangue said the party leadership is circulating invitation letters to engage the respective chiefs to resolve the matter.
Since the death of the late Ovaherero paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro last year, the Ovaherero leaders have been at each other’s throats over who should facilitate the transitional process.
This led to the emergence of two factions, one supporting chief Vipuira Kapuuo, who at the time of Rukoro’s death was the chairperson of the chiefs’ council, which council is traditionally tasked to facilitate the transitional process. The other faction, of academic Mutjinde Katjiua, feels that Kapuuo was not fit to facilitate such a process.
Recently, a fight which broke out between the two factions in the capital led to one man being shot. That fight last month at the Ovaherero Commando Hall in Windhoek was allegedly over the keys of the building. New Era understands the injured man is still being hospitalised, while the perpetrator is in custody.
Also, Katjiua’s faction late last year held a meeting in Aminuis, Onderombapa in the Omaheke region, where Katjiua was nominated as the next Ovaherero paramount chief-designate. The meeting also saw Kapuuo being replaced as the acting paramount chief by chief Boas Tjingaete.
However, that meeting was nullified by Kapuuo’s faction, claiming that a quorum was not reached to take such a decision.
Muinjangue said the fact and reality is that one cannot divorce Nudo from the chiefs’ council and OTA. The party leadership, therefore, felt the need to engage the two warring factions to see whether they can reach an amicable solution.
She said the party has mandated chief Bethold Tjiundje and Kapuuo to facilitate invitations to various traditional chiefs who are members of Nudo to pave the way forward. Tjiundje has reportedly been at the forefront of Katjiua’s designation, while Kapuuo has not indicated whether he will want to take over the paramount chieftainship.