The Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) insists its people remain united, despite two rival paramount chiefs.
Current chief of one faction Mutjinde Katjiua, on behalf of one traditional authority faction, said this at Red Flag Day (Otjiserandu) commemorations at Okahandja over the weekend.
The OTA currently has two paramount chiefs – both claiming to be legitimate.
The other faction supports Hoze Riruako as chief.
OTA spokesperson Itamunua Meroro over the weekend reiterated that the Ovaherero people are not divided.
“We have skirmishes here and there. There is no community in this world that is 100% together.
Even our own government doesn’t have 60% representation. Are we going to say our Namibian people are divided?” he asked.
Meroro explained the significance of Red Flag Day, saying it is about collective remembrance of the past.
“Many people were subject to genocide of 1904 to 1908.
As a result of that, we want to keep the fire alive for the purposes of ensuring independence and also to pursue our legal rights and reparations.
“This is a collective memory, ensuring historical continuity, and also ensuring that the young people follow in the same footsteps for the purposes of ensuring the dignity and the rights of the people,” he said.
OTA adjudicator Rirua Komeheke says as long as one sees the three national flags of Ombara (chief), the Ovaherero people are united.
He says although they have a different understanding on the issue of law, they still remain a community.
“And that is whether the meeting at Onderombapa was legitimately convened or not. Until we finish that, there’s no talk about unity or disunity.
We have to finish a legal difference.
“The issue the Namibian nation does not know is that there are traditional leaders who are calling themselves chiefs in the Herero nation.
They are saying ‘I am a chief of this or that area’,” Komeheke says.
He says before the nation speaks of the disunity of the Ovaherero people, the court process needs to conclude.
GENOCIDE
Meanwhile, Meroro said the Ovaherero and Nama communities will continue the genocide fight until the Namibian and German governments hear their plea.
He said the joint declaration entered into by the two governments has nothing to do with the genocide or reparations.
“It is actually a bilateral agreement between two governments, excluding the affected or descendants of the affected communities.
Therefore, we actually reject the joint declaration in its present form. In total, it is illegal.
“We want to be fairer.
The agreement is in direct violation of the motion of 2016/17 in the parliament, which was clearly talking about the inter-ethnic agreement, including the victims or descendants,” Meroro said.
Community member Lazarus Kaapama at the event described the commemorations as an important time for the Ovaherero people to remember their fallen heroes, those who led the people during the time of resistance against the colonial powers, meaning the Germans, as well as those who led Namibia before independence.
“We are here to remember those people, and also to instil a spirit of brevity, a spirit of appreciating the lives of those people who sacrificed their lives, those people whose blood has been shed on our behalf,” he said.
The faction led by Riruako held their commemorations on 18 July.
Contacted for comment, Riruako yesterday said: “Why are we reporting about last weekend’s event while there is an event happening right now at Okahandja? There is an event taking place now, report on that.”
