Royal family members up for poaching

THE Nguvauva royal house is once again embroiled in controversy – this time following the arrest of three Nguvauva men this weekend on poaching charges.

Charles Nguvauva, the eldest son of acting Paramount Chief Peter Nguvauva, and two younger Nguvauvas – said to be the sons of Charles Nguvauva – aged 22 and 17 years old, were arrested on Friday for poaching on private farmland, allegedly with the intention of using the meat for a large Mbanderu meeting that took place over the weekend.
During the past year, the leadership struggle in the Nguvauva family has made news headlines, with the fate of the widow of the late Ovambanderu Paramount Chief Munjuku Nguvauva II, Aletha Nguvauva, being the latest in a string of controversial issues facing the royal house.
Between December 24 and January 2, the Police guarded the late chief’s homestead at Ezorongondo following an order to secure the homestead in order to avoid conflict between the two factions.
When Chief Munjuku II died in January last year, the community was immersed in a leadership struggle over his succession, with one faction backing Keharanjo Nguvauva, the late chief’s 23-year-old son with his wife Aletha, and the other faction backing Deputy Minister of Fisheries Kilus Nguvauva, who is the eldest son of the chief from an informal relationship, whom the chief allegedly named as his successor in a letter opened after his death.
The meeting that took place this weekend was planned by the Kilus group.
The Regional Police Commander for the Omaheke Region, Annanias Muzile, yesterday confirmed the arrest of Charles Nguvava and the two younger Nguvauvas, stating that the Police investigation is continuing. He added that the three would appear in the Gobabis Magistrate’s Court today.
He said the game hunted included one gemsbok bull, one kudu cow, one protected duiker and two hartebeest – a cow and her calf, also protected species.
Muzile said the three Nguvauvas have been charged with three counts, including the illegal hunting of huntable species, the illegal hunting of protected species, and a charge of corruption for the older Nguvauva for the personal use of a Government vehicle in committing an illegal activity.
The GRN vehicle was signed out to Charles Nguvauva, a driver in the Ministry of Youth.
According to farmers in the area, where increased poaching has been experienced during the past 18 months, the tracks of this vehicle have been identified at the scene of previous cases of alleged poaching.
Muzile said the carcasses had been confiscated and the vehicle impounded.
The three men remain in Police custody until their first court appearance today. The Police also confiscated a .30-06 hunting rifle.
Kai Rumpf of the Black Nossob Conservancy, within which the animals were poached, told The Namibian that farmers in the Steinhausen area heard shots at around 04h00 on Friday, and a high-speed chase involving seven farmers ensued.
The chase ended at Farm Plessisplaas, a resettlement farm in the Epukiro area, where the five animals had already been unloaded from the vehicle.
According to Rumpf, the Nguvauvas fled into the bush, but left their identification documents behind.
By 07h00, the Plessisplaas Police had arrested them, with the three allegedly admitting to the poaching charges in front of witnesses.