Ovaherero divided at Kapuuo commemorations

DIVISIONS amongst Ovaherero groups were brightly illuminated again yesterday when two separate events were held not far from each other in Windhoek to commemorate the 39th anniversary of legendary Ovaherero chief Clemens Kapuuo’s death.

One event was held by the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) at the Commando in Windhoek, while the other was officiated by DTA of Namibia president McHenry Venaani at the UN Plaza.

OTA spokesperson Bob Kandetu confirmed this yesterday.

Venaani, during the official opening of his event, denounced the OTA decision not to join them.

“They say we do not have people. What do they mean, when we are the second-biggest party in the country? I cannot have people who do not lead tell me I do not have people,” charged Venaani.

He said the divisions amongst the Ovaherero was even more stark on the day when they were commemorating Kapuuo, who stood for unity and peace.

“Kapuuo was a peacebuilder. We must remember all the good that was done for us. We must work together,” he added.

Venaani also called on government to recognise Kapuuo as a national hero, saying he and many other Ovaherero people had contributed a lot to the fight for freedom and independence.

“It is a welcome development that a few men who suffered across Africa are only now being considered for veteran status,” he noted.

Venaani criticised the popular belief that the fight for independence only started in 1966, stating: “It is not true, it started back in 1964.”

He also said Kapuuo played a vital role while serving as deputy chief to national hero chief Hosea Kutako by sending 154 men into exile to fight for the country’s independence.

“How is this man not a hero?” asked Venaani, adding that this group went for training in Botswana, and to the Haile Selassie Military Academy in Ethiopia.

He said Kapuuo was also the deputy chief of the Ovaherero people in 1960 when he supervised an intelligence unit called Ozohoze (spies).

He said that unit played a key role in relaying information to the world about the plight of Namibians under apartheid.

Kapuuo, a founding member of SWANU of Namibia and later a leader of the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO), was gunned down by two mysterious men on 27 March 1978, after joining the DTA of Namibia.

Media reports at the time claimed there was an outcry amongst the Ovaherero, who will always remember him as a man who had a multi-racial political approach, and who always sought unity.

In 1999, late paramount chief Kuaima Riruako approached the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate Kapuuo’s death, believing that Kapuuo’s assassination was orchestrated by the apartheid South African authorities.

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