Professor Makala Lilemba

Victoria Lilemba

Preparations are underway in Outapi, the regional capital of Omusati for the advent of Olufuko, on 1 July 2023, a cultural ceremony of the people in the northern part of Namibia. Though the ceremony was dormant during the colonial years, it was resuscitated a few years ago by the first president, His Excellency, Sam Nujoma, who happens to be its patron. The reason for its dormancy emanates from the colonialists who labelled Olufuko and other traditional ceremonies as heathen practices and therefore were not celebrated let alone practised. 

This was contrary to the Christian orientation and principles, which ushered in a new god among the local communities. This approach is quite strange as the early missionaries deliberately ignored the mythologies of their European ancestors, like those of the Greeks, Jews and Romans. The Greeks are known to have had many gods whom they worshipped and adored. Therefore, it is paradoxical for the missionaries to have been so cruel towards the locals, without having studied their cultures as culture describes patterns of learned behaviour that form a durable template by which ideas and images are transferred from one generation to another or from one group to another (Haggett, 1979). Despite the early missionaries looking down upon the cultures of the Africans while ignoring their Black Madonna, the drafters of the Namibian Constitution inserted Article 19, which states that ‘Every person shall be entitled to enjoy, practice, profess, maintain and promote any culture, language, tradition or religion subject to the terms of this constitution and further subject to the condition that the rights protected by this Article do not impinge upon the rights of others or the national interest.’  In addition, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of 1989 Article 30, equally concurs with Article 19 of the Namibian Constitution and affirms that ‘In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practice his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.’ 

There is nothing wrong in professing the culture of a group of people, but what goes in there is what makes some people raise their eyebrows and start criticising the system of cultural ceremonies. In some cultural practices, the ceremonial rites deny boys and girls to be in school the whole year. This state of affairs disadvantages the children as they will either lag behind or drop out of school completely. In the convention on the rights of the child, the obligations of member states are spelled out and member countries are expected to implement them. Article 19 of the convention is explicit and states that States shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents, legal guardians or any other person who has the care of the child. In Article 18, States are mandated to encourage regular school attendance and reduce school dropouts. The same convention in Article 29 states that States should be directed to the development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language, and values, for the national values of the country in which the child lives. In the case of Olufuko, although churches and other human rights bodies have been voicing against the revival of the institution, the political leaders continue to grace the occasion by their regular attendance. 

Interestingly, some churches in Zambia have some recitals for the newly graduated initiate. This makes the whole process of celebrating cultural ceremonies so controversial. But for Namibia being a secular state, this should not be a great hassle, in fact, it is the rumoured stories of abuse that go with the ceremonies which contributes to fear and the unknown curriculum of the rites. Many researchers who studied the ceremonies and actually went and stayed with the initiates and the oonamunganga, in the case of Olufuko, found out that in actual fact most stories are blown out of proportion. Many people believe that cultural rites are relevant as they are carried out worldwide to prepare the young initiates for adult life. 

According to them, it is not marriage matters which are taught there, but mostly issues pertaining to adult life. But then what are the Church and other human rights groups scared of, which is being done in those enclosures? It should be remembered that every society has some elements of cultural heritage which sustain it throughout the centuries. Bob Marley once remarked that a people without a culture is like a tree without roots. What is strange is that our political leaders have been criticising the colonial masters for taking away the African cultures, but at the same time failing to support cultures by including some aspects in the school curriculum. The current state of cultural ceremonies has improved and they now teach issues like health and reproductive systems. In addition, the cultural ceremonies have become national affairs as everybody is free to join despite hailing from different ethnicity.