Staff Reporter
Urban and Rural Development Minister Erastus Uutoni has urged the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority and its leadership to safeguard peace and stability among the community.
Uutoni made this call on Sunday while speaking in front of hundreds of Ovambanderu community members and sympathisers, who gathered in Okahandja to commemorate the 126th Battle of Otjunda.
The battle of Otjunda culminated in the execution of chief Kahimemua Nguvauva by the German Schutztruppe at Okahandja on 12 June 1896.
“It is wealth to know that the main functions of traditional authority, as provided for in the Traditional Authorities Act, is to promote peace and welfare amongst the members of the community, to supervise and ensure the observance of the customary law by its community members, and foremost to uphold, protect, promote and preserve the culture, language, tradition and traditional values of the community,” Uutoni said.
Therefore, Uutoni said, the commemoration should be used as a day to gain inspiration, courage and knowledge from the heroic achievements and sacrifices of the heroes and heroines honoured today.
“The ancestors of our nation did not fight on tribal lines or for self-interest but fought for the common purpose of each and every person in the Namibian society. They only had one purpose – to guard against division and loss of their precious commodity, which is land,” said the minister.
“Let us emulate the heroic lives of our heroes and heroines by rededicating ourselves to actively participate fully in the national development programs and activities aimed at bringing about improvement in the lives of all our people,” he added.
Several Ovaherero traditional leaders attended this year’s memorial, including Ovaherero acting paramount chief Vipuira Kapuuo, who had previously shunned the occasion.
Others in attendance were Kambazembi Royal Traditional Authority chief Sam Kambazembi and chief Manase Meundju Zeraeua.
Also in attendance were various political leaders, including the leader of the official opposition the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) McHenry Venaani and Landless People’s Movement (LPM) leader Bernadus Swartbooi.
Chief Kahimemua Nguvauva was the Ovambanderu chief in what was then German South West Africa.
He was born at Omusarakumba, 18 kilometres north of Okahandja, and became the leader of the Ovambanderu in eastern Namibia. He led the Ovambanderu community in resistance against German colonial occupation in battles at Gobabis and Otjunda in the Omaheke region in the 1890s.
Nguvauva was declared a rebel for defending their rights and property. A bounty was placed on his head and the position of chief revoked.
It was at Otjunda in 1896 when the decisive battle took place. Kahimemua was captured and tortured at Kalkfontein and taken by the German forces as a prisoner to Okahandja, where he and Nicodemus Kavikunua were brutally executed by a German firing squad on 12 June.
Kahimemua was shot 11 times all over the body but did not die. He died only after he pointed out to his executors that the chief dies only when he is shot through the forehead – and then the 12th bullet was shot. The grave of Kahimemua Nguvauva is situated on an erf along Kahimemua Avenue in Okahandja. It was officially proclaimed a national monument on 7 February 1980.