Mbanderu youth want Pohamba to intervene

THE youth league of the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority has called on President Hifikepunye Pohamba to intervene in the two-year chieftaincy succession dispute.

The dispute over who should succeed the late long-serving Chief Munjuku Nguvauva, who died in January 2008, has deeply divided the community.’We have no choice but to request the Head of State to intervene and to give guidance, direction and advice,’ said Cecil Nguvauva, President of the Ovambanderu Youth League (OYL) yesterday.’We also reject a report compiled by a special commission appointed by Local and Regional Government Minister Jerry Ekandjo, which re-commended that Keharanjo Nguvauva should become the next chief, a younger son of Munjuku and not Keharanjo’s older half-brother Deputy Fisheries Minister Kilus Nguvauva.’Two factions emerged since the death of the late chief, each supporting either Kilus or Keharanjo to become the next chief.’We also wonder why the report of the commission and its findings were only communicated to both groups after the November 2009 elections – what took them so long?’ Cecil Nguvauva wanted to know. ‘We also observe that there appear to be a friendship between young Keharanjo and the Ministry of Local and Regional Government, at least with some its officials. Keharanjo is being paraded as if he is the new chief,’ the OYL president criticised, without substantiating his accusation.While the Keharanjo group had welcomed the findings of the commiss dion in mid-December and its recommendation, the Kilus group had asked for an extension of the 60-day deadline to react to the report. The deadline was February 28. ‘A written response was sent by the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority to the Ministry in time for the deadline, but I am not familiar with the content of that response,’ Nguvauva told reporters yesterday. ‘We from the OYL advised the Authority to knock at the doors of President Pohamba at State House to solve the issue.’Last Thursday in Parliament CoD’s Tsudao Gurirab had asked Minister Jerry Ekandjo about progress made in the two-year-old succession squabble. ‘I have not appointed anyone as chief. We await the response from the Kilus group. If they disagree with the report and its recommendation, the Traditional Authorities Act provides for an election among the community to elect a chief. ‘This will be difficult as it is not easy to tell who among the Herero-speaking Namibians is Mbanderu or Herero. It is up to this community to make or break its culture,’ the Minister added.The commission recommended that Keharanjo Nguvauva should become chief as he was born in wedlock and in the Herero-Mbanderu culture a child born from a legitimate marriage has stronger rights than a child born out of wedlock, like Kilus Nguvauva.’About ten years ago the late Chief Munjuku wrote a letter asking his traditional councillors to let Kilus succeed him, because Keharanjo was then still a young boy, but he is a young adult now,’ Ekandjo said.Keharanjo, who is now 23 years old, was inaugurated in August 2008 by Senior Traditional Councillor Erastus Kahuure, who leads the young man’s supporters, according to traditional rites. This angered the Kilus group. They declared a dispute and the commission was set up to investigate.