OkahandjaMembers of the Ovambanderu community are at each other’s throats again, this time over the graveyard in Okahandja where Ovambanderu leaders, such as Chief Munjuku II Nguvauva, are buried.
On Saturday, the late Chief Munjuku II Nguvauva’s wife, Ovambanderu chieftaincy claimant Aletta Nguvauva, and her delegation went to Okahandja to put a wreath as well as pay homage to the fallen leaders of their community.
Their action invited the wrath of a group sympathetic to Chief Kilus Munjuku III Nguvauva, who went there to prevent Aletta and her followers from entering the premises.
Before this reporter was told to leave the premises by the police, he witnessed Otjombinde Constituency Councillor Karii Marenga angrily poking one of Chief Kilus’ supporters in full view of the police.
Okahandja Police Station Commander Chief Inspector Jolanda Uugulu had to join a contingent of police officers in order to strengthen efforts to remove a large group of Kilus’ followers.
“Please take note that we are working under instruction from Nampol Chief Sebastian Ndeitunga, who instructed us to remove Kilus’ supporters so that the other group can enter the premises,” Uugulu told Kilus’ supporters.
Only after police intervention were Aletta’s supporters allowed into the premises to continue with their original plans.
Late last year, Kilus Nguvauva was inaugurated as the legitimate chief of the Ovambanderu clan.
The inauguration came after High Court Judge Collins Parker ordered the then Minister of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development Charles Namoloh to approve the application of Kilus Nguvauva as the rightful chief of the Ovambanderu.
Kilus replaces his father, the late Chief Munjuku Nguvauva II, who died in 2008. Kilus is the second eldest son of the late Chief Munjuku Nguvauva II.
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, Aletta – Keharanjo’s mother – was inaugurated by another faction and supporters, as the queen of the Ovambanderu. This move led to another legal battle in the Supreme Court between Kilus and his stepmother.
Kilus emerged victorious on June 18, 2013, when the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal application by Aletta and senior counsellor of the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority, Erastus Kahuure.
At the time, the Supreme Court ruled that 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 (Aletta 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.
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