2015-04-24Staff Report 2 Rundu Eugene Siwombe Kudumo will be enthroned as chief of the Ukwangali tribe tomorrow to succeed Hompa Sitentu Daniel Mpasi who died last year. The coronation will take place at Kahenge tribal office whereafter the congregants will move to the new palace of the new chief at Mayara village, five kilometres east of Nkurenkuru. The Ukwangali Traditional Authority confirmed that Kudumo would be enthroned as chief of Ukwangali on Saturday. Senior headman of the Ukwangali, Frans Hauwanga, said the Ukwangali and all people that want to celebrate the occassion should reserve Saturday to welcome the new chief. “We are going ahead, everything is in place, we had a hiccup where the Minister of Urban and Rural Development (Sophia Shaningwa) instructed us to put the coronation on hold for investigation after she received a petition from certain people who were against the royal family’s decision. We travelled to Windhoek to sit with her in the meeting and all was resolved and she gave us the go-ahead. So we are going to light the fire of our tribe on Saturday,” Hauwanga said. Initially the chief-designate Kudumo was supposed to be coronated as chief on Wednesday but the traditional authority changed it to Saturday to accommodate workers who will be off duty. Kudumo’s coronation comes after Hompa Mpasi died from chronic illnesses at Nkurenkuru Health Centre in Kavango West on December 17, 2014. He was 80 and the royal family decided to fulfill the late chief’s wish to crown Kudumo as his successor. Before his demise Hompa Sitentu had already nominated Kudumo who he also presented to the public on several occasions as the one who would take over as chief. During that time he encouraged senior members of the traditional authority to work with him as he would need their assistance when he becomes their chief. Kudumo has been endorsed by the royal family as well as the entire Ukwangali Traditional Authority to be the next chief and unless something untoward happens Kudumo will be sworn in as chief tomorrow. When Mpasi died last year he was leader of his tribe for 35 uninterrupted years.Kudumo resigned on Monday this week from the ministry of education where he was employed as an accountant in the finance department at the ministry’s regional headquarters in Rundu. 2015-04-24Staff Report 2
