THE government announced on Friday that it will accord the late OvaHerero Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako a State funeral.
The late chief will be laid to rest at the Okahandja Herero heroes and heroines’ cemetery, situated some 68 kilometres north of Windhoek on Sunday.
This was announced by the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Albert Kawana, in a media statement on Friday.
President Hifikepunye Pohamba also directed that all flags in the country must be flown at half-mast with effect from Friday until after the funeral, as a mark of respect for the chief.
The President further directed that a memorial service in honour of the chief will be held at Parliament Gardens in Windhoek on Friday 27 June. Meanwhile, the body of the late chief was taken to his home town of Aminuis in the Omaheke Region on Friday in order to allow the community and thousands of mourners there to pay their last respects to their leader, and for traditional rituals to be performed at his homestead.
The chief passed away at the Roman Catholic Hospital on 2 June 2014 after spending several weeks in that hospital’s intensive care unit.
Pohamba was one of the last leaders to see Riruako alive after he visited him in hospital shortly before his death. Riruako was the seventh paramount chief of the OvaHerero community.
He is survived by his wife and 16 children. – Nampa
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