"The Supreme Council meeting will be held at Epukiro and the faction led by Senior Traditional Councillor Erastus Kahuure has also been invited," Ngahahe Tjiposa told The Namibian yesterday.

Tjiposa is the spokesperson for the group that favours Deputy Fisheries Minister Kilus Nguvauva, who is also Regional Councillor for the Steinhausen Constituency and serves on the National Council.

"The invitation to Mr Kahuure is a move to find an amicable solution to the dispute and mend the rift," Tjiposa added.

Kahuure, who leads the faction favouring Keharanjo II, the 23-year-old son of the late Chief Munjuku II Nguvauva who died in January, inaugurated him as Paramount Chief at Gobabis on August 9.

Keharanjo's older half-brother Kilus Nguvauva was born out of wedlock, which disqualifies him from becoming the next chief, according to the Ovambanderu customary laws.

Kilus was supposed to be inaugurated by his supporters on August 16, but the event was called off a few days earlier.

The Ministry of Local and Regional Government, which has jurisdiction over traditional authorities, sent a letter to both factions on August 7, urging them not to go ahead with the inaugurations, but to meet, solve the dispute and come forward with only one candidate.

This request was ignored by the Kahuure group.

Kahuure could not be reached for comment yesterday, but a source close to his group said he would not accept the invitation to this weekend's meeting.

"Those who want to meet now are in the minority and our newly inaugurated Ovambanderu Paramount Chief Keharanjo II will convene a meeting of the Ovambanderu Supreme Council for the weekend of August 30," the source said.

According to Section 12 of the Traditional Authorities Act of 2000, community members can declare a dispute and submit a petition to the Local and Regional Government Minister, who must appoint a team to investigate the dispute and make a decision based on its recommendations.

The one faction claims that in 2001 the late Chief Munjuku stated in a letter that he wanted his son Kilus to succeed him.

However, his widow, Aletha Nguvauva, said at the inauguration of her son Keharanjo II that she was never informed of this letter and had never seen it or discussed it with her late husband.

Kahuure, who is a brother of the late chief, said Chief Munjuku had instructed in 2004 him to groom young Keharanjo as his successor.

According to the Traditional Authorities Act, chiefs applying for Government recognition must apply in writing to the Local and Regional Government Ministry and the form must be signed by the Governor of the relevant region.

The Minister either approves the application in writing, or if he finds reasons for not recognising the applicant, informs the State President, who then refers the matter to the Council of Traditional Leaders.

The Council can take up to a year to make a recommendation.

Should it fail to do so within that time, the State President can either approve or reject the application for official recognition.

According to insiders, the succession dispute in the Ovambanderu community also has a political dimension.

"Those who are either members or supporters of the ruling Swapo Party easily receive official recognition.

The others wait a long time, like our cousins the Ovaherero, where over 40 traditional chiefs have been waiting for 10 years for official recognition," a source told The Namibian yesterday.

In 1995 the first Traditional Leaders Act after Independence came into force and all traditional chiefs had to reapply for official recognition, causing great frustration among them.

Many chiefs had been in office for many years or were officially recognised by the South African government.

The fact that the Government of independent Namibia had stripped them of their status and put them through a reapplication process caused strong dissatisfaction among many of them, which is continuing today since many chiefs are still waiting for recognition.

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