Police instruct Chief not to hold Ezorongondo meeting

THE Police yesterday instructed Deputy Fisheries Minister Kilus Nguvauva not to hold a planned meeting at the royal Ovambanderu homestead in the Omaheke Region over Christmas in order to prevent possible tensions with his younger half-brother Keharanjo, but the group decided to go ahead with the meeting nevertheless.

The Police top command received a letter last week from the late Chief’s Munjuku Nguvauva’s widow, Aletha Nguvauva, the mother of Keharanjo, that her stepson Kilus was organising a meeting at the royal homestead at Ezorongondo, where she lives, without having consulted her.
Since Kilus barred her and Keharanjo a month ago from entering the family homestead to hold a meeting, the widow has now requested the Police to prohibit any meetings of the Kilus group within a radius of 500 metres of the homestead from December 23 and throughout January 2009.
‘This is to avoid any potential harassment and transgression of my privacy and peace during the festive season,’ the widow wrote in her letter of December 18 to Police Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga.
The division in the Ovambanderu community has deepened since January 2008 when Chief Munjuku Nguvauva died and both his older son Kilus Nguvauva and his younger son Keharanjo claimed to be the rightful heir.
Keharanjo was inaugurated as chief in August, but without official Government approval. The Kilus group declared a dispute.
According to well-placed sources, Safety and Security Minister Nickey Iyambo, who was already in the North, travelled to Windhoek yesterday morning for a meeting with senior Police officials and Local and Regional Government Minister Jerry Ekandjo.
They decided it would be better if the Ovambanderu meeting did not take place.
‘Deputy Fisheries Minister Kilus Nguvauva was phoned in the presence of the two Ministers afterwards and he was told not to go forward with the three-day meeting,’ a source told The Namibian.
Minister Iyambo could not be reached yesterday and Minister Ekandjo said he had been on leave since Friday and was only ‘in the office briefly to fetch some documents’ yesterday.
Deputy Local and Regional Government Minister Kazenambo Kazenambo yesterday afternoon said he was not part of the morning meeting, but was later informed by Deputy Inspector General Tjivikua about the decision.
‘It can be elsewhere in the area but not at the homestead. The official headquarters of the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority is Pos Drie near Epukiro and not Ezorongondo,’ Kazenambo said.
‘Police officers will be sent to the homestead to keep law and order.’
But Ngahahe Tjiposa, spokesperson of the Kilus faction, said the meeting would be held from December 25 to 27 despite the Police instruction.
‘We did it every year with the late Chief Munjuku as his birthday was on January 1 and his son Kilus is the ‘owner’ of the royal homestead,’ Tjiposa said.
According to Police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Hophni Hamufungu, the message to Kilus Nguvauva is clear.
‘Deputy Inspector General Tjivikua does not expect anybody to disobey Police instructions and Police will not authorise any big meetings over the festive season. Should the meeting take place it is at their own risk,’ Hamufungu told The Namibian.