A FACTION of the deeply divided Ovambanderu community barred the recently inaugurated Chief Keharanjo Nguvauva and his mother, Aletha, from entering the family’s homestead in the Omaheke Region on Friday night, while a strong Police contingent stood guard all night.
The entrance was blocked with several vehicles, apparently at the instruction of Deputy Fisheries Minister Kilus Nguvauva.
No violence erupted and a meeting scheduled by Chief Keharanjo for Friday night took place in front of a nearby kindergarten on Saturday morning.
Aletha Nguvauva is the widow of the late Ovambanderu Chief Munjuku, who died in January this year. A row erupted about his succession between a faction supporting 23-year-old Keharanjo, while another group sees his older half-brother Kilus Nguvauva as the rightful heir to the chieftainship.
The so-called ‘concerned group’ under Senior Traditional Councillor Erastus Kahuure unilaterally inaugurated Keharanjo as the new chief three months ago.
He applied for official recognition from Government, but Kilus Nguvauva under the banner of the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority officially declared a dispute in the matter and is waiting for a Government decision.
‘Blocking the entry of the late Chief’s widow and his son to the Nguvauva family homestead at Ezorongondo is not a good way to go about things,’ Paul Kahorere of Keharanjo’s support group told The Namibian yesterday.
‘The others even prevented our meeting from taking place at the nearby kindergarten.’
Another source told The Namibian from Pos 3 east of Epukiro that the principal of a nearby school and a ministerial driver were allegedly organising the blockages.
But the other faction said there were reasons for the action. ‘It is true that the entrance to the homestead was blocked on instructions of Deputy Minister Kilus Nguvauva since there was a large convoy of vehicles,’ Ngahahe Tjiposa told The Namibian yesterday afternoon.
‘Keharanjo was informed that he could enter and put his luggage there and sleep over at the family homestead, but that all those vehicles would not be allowed to enter. We however did not see him there all night. We asked the Police to be present and they came. ‘
Asked why the other group was not allowed to meet in the kindergarten on Saturday morning, Tjiposa said it belonged to the community and that neither Keharanjo nor his mother had sent a formal request to the community committee to hold the meeting.
‘There are some people in our community who want to use young Keharanjo to start a rebellion against the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority,’ Tjiposa added.
Police spokesperson Chief Inspector Hofni Hamufungu yesterday confirmed that the Police had kept watch all night from Friday to Saturday due to the ‘quarrels in the Nguvauva family’.
‘Although no official charge has been laid [yet], those who were blocked from entering the Nguvauva homestead did complain to the Police about the incident on Saturday morning,’ Hamufungu said.
