Ovaherero Unity Remains Elusive

NORMALLY when one broaches a subject as controversial as unity among the Ovaherero, the question on the minds of stakeholders is who the hell is he anyway? Is he sent by somebody?

Tjirue gave birth to Tjamuaha and Keja among his children. Tjamuaha gave birth to Kavikunua, Maharero and Kaposambo among others. Kaihepavazandu descends from Maharero and Tjipene descends from Keja. Kaposambo gave birth to Katupao who in turn gave birth to Wavaza Kaposambo. My father is late Wavaza Kaposambo and my remaining partanal parents are Kaihepavazandu Maharero and Tjipene Keja.Discord among the Ovaherero is as old as the symbiotic relations among them. Their relations are defined by their bilateral descent of Ejanda (maternal) and Oruzo (paternal). These relations are far reaching and explicate the extent to which the Ovaherero are intrinsically linked and it goes to explain why they never part ways forever. Ovaherero society has functioned under traditional leadership and in this context there was a thin line between politics and society. Traditional authority guided the life of the community and little opposition prevailed to the rule of the supreme leader, be it at village or national level. And this form of governance obtained until the arrival of euro-centric models of governance.Ovaherero communities were governed through traditional dynasties, Ozondjuuo Zouvara uo Vaherero, in modern conceptualisation known as Traditional Royal Houses. Some of the Ovaherero senior dynasties are, but not limited to, Ombandi, Ongoneko, Onguatjindu, Otjirungu, Ohorongo and many others. In time the Ovaherero society met challenges from other societies, the Namas in particular. These experiences led to the redefinition of their governance and management of community affairs more so with regard to best ways to protect their communities and their belongings.This situation culminated into the All Ovaherero Conference of 1863 in Otjimbingwe under the leadership of King Zeraeua. The consultations primarily deliberated on how the Ovaherero could effectively respond to attacks by the ‘Griekwas’, which attacks threatened to paralyse the survival of the Ovaherero society through cattle robberies. The conference resolved to establish a single Ovaherero command structure under one leadership. The consensus was King Zeraeua. Zeraeua himself was reluctant and made a sober appeal. He was not staying young and as the challenges demanded military sophistication, his view was that Kamaharero Tjamuaha was most suitable for the assignment. After long and deep reflections, the Ovaherero conference of 1863 resolved to establish a single command structure with one supreme leader by the name Kamaharero. This arrangement however, did not militate against the continued existence of the Ovaherero royal houses and latter continued to reign supreme in their regions such as Ovitore, Otjituezu, Otjosazu, Okandjoze, Otjunda, Otjozonjati, Okombahe and others. Meanwhile the country was taken over by European forces and some of these old ways had to be redefined under duress. But the tradition continued and even after the major wars they maintained their social organisation.In modern days, a new conflict situation has emerged between the modern royal houses and the modern Ovaherero Traditional Authority system. The bone of contention seems to be whether the royal houses must reign supreme, whether the Ovaherero Traditional Authority must reign supreme or whether there must be parallelism. There are divergent schools of thought on this matter. This dispute has continued rather subtly and has ebbed and flowed with the Namibian State trapped in the throes of whether to recognise the royal houses, the Traditional Authority or both and, under what conditions.