On Sunday, the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) will have a new paramount chief, to fill the void left after the death of Advocate Vekuii Rukoro.
This was confirmed by a spirited Nandiuasora Mazeingo, the chief administrator of the OTA, who told Nampa on Thursday everything was in place to host the about 500 delegates of the Ovaherero Senate.
The congress starts on Friday at Onderembapa in the Aminuis Constituency, with the coronation taking place on Saturday.
Since Rukoro’s passing, a dispute has ensued regarding his potential successor.
Although widely contested by certain quarters, academic Mutjinde Katjiua has been anointed by the Ovaherero Chiefs Council as its preferred candidate for the OTA’s top post.
Meanwhile, another group has endorsed Ovitoto Chief, Vipuira Kapuuo, as the legitimate acting paramount chief.
“For reasons already conveyed to you in our aforesaid two correspondences, we are in the final stages of finalising an application in the High Court of Namibia with our appointed legal counsel to have all your ultra vires actions declared null and void and set aside,” the Kapuuo faction said through their lawyers, PD Theron and Associates.
But Mazeingo was unperturbed, saying the Ovaherero people cannot be held hostage by a minority clique.
“It is not a coronation. It’s an election. It’s an elective assembly. Every delegation is at liberty to bring whoever they want to put forth as a candidate for the Office of Ombara Otjitambi,” he continued.
He further dismissed claims that the Ovaherero is a deeply divided, disenfranchised and warring people.
“If anybody, one or two, chooses not to attend that meeting, I don’t call that division. As a people, we will not be held hostage by narrow interests. We will proceed as a people and elect our leader,” he stated.
Mazeingo said about 35 chapters of the different Ovaherero chiefs will be represented by 15 delegates each.
“I see people who are united in their resolve to push back anyone who wants to dictate to them who should be their leader. We see a people determined to chart their own course without any external interests,” he charged.
The administrator did not want to delve into details around the cost the OTA will incur by hosting the event.
“We have always carried ourselves,” he said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency