WINDHOEK – Chief Tumbee Kavetumbu Fanuel Tjombe who died at the age of 67 made his mark as Chief of the Ovambanderu community in Otjombinde Constituency.
Tjombe who passed away two weeks ago briefly acted as the Chief of the Ovaherero Traditional Council (OTA) following the demise of Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako.
He was born in Gobabis in Omaheke Region on 29 June 1947 as the son of Rebekka Tjombe (Omukuati uo Tjivanda ) and Theophelus Karuvepo Kavari (Omukuejuva).
Tjombe attended school at the Rhenish Mission School in Gobabis in Omaheke.
Tjombe attended school as far as Grade 5 when he was declared a persona non grata at the school due to alleged mischievousness.
With young brother by paternal descent as Ovakuauti, Esegiel Karumendu, they were expelled from school because of their attitude and juvenile delinquency at about 16 years.
Expelled from school the Chief and company had become the new kids on the block in the social circles of Epako. Not only did he and his friends become socialites but they were football stars of the Sunshine Football Club.
His chiefly ordination would even follow him onto the football pitch where he distinguished himself as a chief dribbler of the ball and chief sharp shooter playing in the position of right forward winger or centre, at times sweeper.
From there he migrated to Windhoek in the early 1970s prompted by African Stars football club, having demonstrated his talent as a game maker in the Gobabis-based Sunshine Football Club.
But as destiny, and tradition may behove, the rural Omaheke started calling and it was time to bid urban Namibia farewell.
This is when he retreated to the backwaters of rural Omaheke in the Otjombinde.
As a middle-aged man he joined the Traditional Council of Chief Eliphas Tjingaete, with young peers like Uaonga Willie Hoveka and Gottlob Kungairi Katjirua among others and joined the council of senior, older and wiser men like Adam McCleod, Claudius Heuva, Petrus Tjijenda, Festus Toromba, Levy Karora Nganjone, Gebhard Hengari, Katukuri Tjipepa and Erastus Tjejamba, and many others.
Since there was no turning back for Tjombe who, obviously by sticking to the company of the older and wiser men who discovered and pioneered Otjombinde, he took the first real steps towards chieftaincy in the late mid-1970s.
Around the early 1980s a section of this community bade for Chief Erastus Kahuure as a replacement of Chief Tjingaete.
Tjombe as one of the few younger men of the times stood firm behind Chief Tjingaete and in the process even convinced fellow young peers like Titus Kahoo Tjijenda and others about the need for the continuation of the Tjingaete chieftaincy.
In 1993, Tjombe took the role of the Chieftainship of Ovambanderu people in Otjombinde after the death of Chief Eliphas Tjigaete.
His charisma, generosity of spirit, and an unwavering commitment to the well-being of his fellow humans, earned him love and acclaim across the country.
He was later chosen by the late Paramount Chief of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) Kuaima Riruako to act on his behalf, as the traditional authority Act prohibits political office-bearers to double up as head of a traditional community. He acted in the position since 2008 till his death.
He also became the Vice President of National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) when the latter withdrew from the DTA of Namibia, a position he held from 2005 till 2008. In this regard, he relinquished his Nudo Vice-President position.
Chief Tjombe played a pivotal role in the reparation quest and led the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu delegation that met the former Director General for African Affairs in the German Foreign Office, Walter Lindner, in Windhoek in 2011 and then in 2012.
He was also part of the delegation that met German MP and the former Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul in Windhoek.
He is survived by his wife of more than thirty years Kaepere from the Mbuende family and 13 children from previous relationships. Tjombe will be laid to rest on Sunday next to Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako.
By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa