Late Bondelswart chief buried

THOUSANDS of mourners on Saturday paid their last respects to the late Bondelswart Chief Anna Katrina Christiaan at a funeral service held at her ancestral village of Warmbad.

Christiaan, who was the tribe’s leader from May 1977, died in the Katutura State Hospital two weeks ago at the age of 72.Eulogised as a great leader, a pillar of the Bondelswart community, and for her unwavering anti-apartheid stance, spiritual, tribal and political leaders also described Christiaan as a shy woman who died in poverty.In recognition of her contribution during the liberation struggle, Christiaan – who was a signatory to the Lusaka Protocol agreement in 1984 – was bestowed with the Order of the Eagle of First Class, Grand Commander by President Hifikepunye Pohamba during the Heroes’ Day commemoration at Lüderitz last year. ‘Anna Katrina Christiaan stood out among her generation of fighters for liberation as a unique individual and resisted the charms of apartheid under the Odendaal Commission,’ said Swapo Party secretary general Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana. Under the Odendaal Commission, the South African administration forcibly moved some Bondelswart tribe members from their ancestral land to the Gibeon district. Iivula-Ithana added: ‘I am reliably informed that during her latter days Captain Anna Christiaan concerned herself mainly to address the landlessness of the Bondelswart people as they were disposed of land during the Odendaal Plan of 1965. That Act of 1965 deprived the greater majority of the Bondelswart people of their land’. In his message, Karas governor Bernadus Swartbooi urged the Bondelswart community to learn from the ‘rich history’ of their late leader. ‘Her history gives us the vision to learn how to live in peace and unity, amid challenges,’ said Swartbooi. In messages delivered on their behalf, Minister of Local Government Jerry Ekandjo and Founding Father Sam Nujoma said Christiaan’s death should serve to promote unity and peace in Namibia. For his part, the acting chief of the Bondelswarts alleged that there is a power struggle fuelled by ‘outsiders’ in the community. He urged the community to be vigilant against these ‘divisive forces’.’The outsiders will only sow the seed of division among us and then will turn their backs on us,’ Christiaan warned. In his sermon, ELCRN deputy Bishop Paul Kisting urged the Bondelswart community to join hands and move forward in the name of God. ‘Stop factional power struggle infighting,’ Kisting added. Echoing the same sentiments, !Oe#Gan Chief Immanuel /Gâseb condemned the ‘power struggle infighting’ which he said had reared its ugly head within the ‘tribes and the ELCRN church’. ‘Let’s pray against this evil,’ he said.Christiaan is survived by a sister, four sons, three daughters, 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.