Rally for Democracy and progress president and parliamentarian Mike Kavekotora says current infighting within the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) is politically- motivated.
“There are rumours that this is a politically-motivated move. If that is in fact the case, I want to call on those pursuing such an agenda to leave politics to us as politicians,” he said while addressing journalists yesterday.
“I urge them to leave traditional leadership, come and join us in politics,” he added.
He also called on political parties not to abuse the traditional authority leadership to advance their political agendas and as a consequence divide their community.
“The Ovaherero have suffered enough, and enough is enough,” stressed Kavekotora.
Infighting has emerged within the OTA, as two factions are fighting to replace late paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro, who died earlier this year.
One faction is led by academic Mutjinde Katjiua, who last weekend was elected to succeed Rukoro after a questionable meeting at Onderombapa in Aminius. Katjiua was the OTA secretary general up until he appointed himself to the position of chairmanship of the newly-formed transitional committee. The committee’s legitimacy has also been questioned.
The other faction is led by acting paramount chief Vipuira Kapuuo, who became the acting paramount chief as per tradition by virtue of him having been the chiefs’ council’s chairperson at the time of Rukoro’s passing.
The questionable Aminius meeting also saw Kapuuo being replaced by his deputy, chief Boas Tjingaete.
At the centre of the dispute is who the right person or entity would be to identify and appoint the next paramount chief.
Traditionally, this task is left to the chiefs’ council. However, this time around, a new transition committee, consisting of five members and chaired by Katjiua, was formed.
This development did not go down well with Kapuuo, who said he was being stripped of his powers.
Meanwhile, Kavekotora said he is also concerned about the genocide issue, how it was handled from the start, and how it has been handled in parliament.
“The just-concluded deliberations in parliament on genocide clearly demonstrated the Namibian government’s position on genocide. It was obvious from all Swapo members’ contributions that they are prepared to sign the joint declaration with Germany, regardless of the detrimental effect that will have on the affected communities,” he noted.
He said the only issue that government wants to have further negotiations on is the useless and baseless grant amount originally agreed upon between the two governments.
“This is a very arrogant stance from the Swapo government, ignoring and disrespecting the late Riruako motion and the expressed views of the majority members of the affected Nama and Ovaherero communities,” he added.
The politician said they know Swapo has the majority in parliament, but Swapo must understand that the will of the affected communities will always prevail.
“The Swapo-led government must not use the genocide issue to finance their bankrupt government. We, the affected communities, will deploy all measures available to ensure that in the end justice prevails,” he charged.
- ktjitemisa@nepc.com.na