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Home / Government makes U-turn in Ovambanderu appeal
Government makes U-turn in Ovambanderu appeal
2014-10-17Staff Report 2 WINDHOEK - The government has withdrawn an appeal against acting Judge Collin Parker’s ruling instructing the Minister of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, (Rtd) Major-General Charles Namoloh to recognise Kilus Nguvauva as the legitimate Ovambanderu Chief. On Monday, the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the judgement by Parker. However on Wednesday the ministry made a U-turn and withdrew the appeal. Contacted for comment yesterday, Government Attorney Advocate Matti Asino confirmed the appeal was withdrawn. “All I can tell you now is that the Ministry has dicided to cancel the notice of appeal – if you want to know why it was cancelled ask the ministry officials themselves,” he said. Minister Namoloh also yesterday confirmed the notice of appeal was withdrawn. When asked what would happen now, Namoloh said: “What honourable Kilus Nguvauva needs to do now is to file a new application that says what the court has decided and then send it to my office for approval.” When quizzed how long it would take after filing the application, he said: “The process will not take long, maybe a week.” “There are channels to be followed and my duty is to make sure that the right channels are followed,” he stressed. The Ovambanderu spokesperson Uazenga Ngahahe said although the matter has been decided he was not particularly happy with how the appeal process was handled. “However this is time to call for unity, therefore I will use this opportunity to call on the entire Ovambanderu people to forget the past and concentrate on unity. I want unity within this community,” he said. Ngahahe called on the whole of Namibia to get ready for the inauguration of Kilus Nguvauva, scheduled for November 21 in Epukiro in Omaheke Region. “I am calling people from all walks of life –whether in Britain, Canada, the USA, South Africa, Botswana or anywhere in this world to make sure they are prepared for 21 November,” he said. The Ovambanderu Traditional Authority chiefs’ council during the past weekend set November 21 as the date of the inauguration of Nguvauva, the second eldest son of Chief Munjuku II Nguvauva who died in 2008. The chieftaincy battle started after Kilus Nguvauva the half-brother to Keharanjo Nguvauva lodged an application with the ministry seeking the same recognition as the duly designated candidate for the Ovambanderu chieftaincy. Keharanjo hanged himself at a flat in Khomasdal on April 8, 2011. Kilus Nguvauva then approached the High Court with an application in which he asked the court to instruct Namoloh to approve his application with no further delay. After Keharanjo’s death, Aletha Nguvauva – Keharanjo’s mother – was inaugurated by another faction and supporters as the queen of the Ovambanderu people. This move led to another legal battle in the Supreme Court between Kilus and his stepmother. Kilus then emerged victorious from the Supreme Court legal wrangle on June 18 2013 when the court dismissed an appeal application by Aletha and senior councillor of the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority, Erastus Kahuure. At the time, the Supreme Court ruled there was insufficient evidence to support their claim on succession in terms of the right to intervene in the counter-application brought by Kilus. The two (Aletha and Kahuure) brought the unsuccessful appeal application before the Supreme Court after they were denied permission by the Windhoek High Court to join a case which was earlier brought before court by Keharanjo alone. 2014-10-17Staff Report 2
