Nujoma throws weight behind olufuko

FOUNDING president Sam Nujoma has come out in defence of the olufuko cultural festival, saying there was nothing untoward about the event.

Nujoma, who is also the patron of the annual cultural event, said there is not a single child who took part in the olufuko rite of passage in the past eight years who was forced into child marriage.

Nujoma made the remarks during a fund raising dinner for the event on Saturday at Outapi in the Omusati region.

“Let me make it categorically clear that initiation is not marriage, but the rite of passage from childhood into adulthood,” stated Nujoma, adding that the young girls participating in the festival are future leaders and have to be educated because education is key to knowledge and power.Traditional initiation is performed during the festival for young girls, including girls aged 12 years, to prepare them for womanhood.Nujoma urged the girls partaking in olufuko and the youth in general to take their education seriously so that they will become future engineers, medical doctors, scientists, pilots, lawyers, teachers, agriculturists and geologists.”Marriage will come after they have finished their studies,” Nujoma pointed out. He said olufuko is only there to prepare the girls to become responsible citizens who are fully aware of their cultural norms and values.The preparatory committee organises the gala dinner every year to raise funds for the successful hosting of olufuko.

Nujoma pledged N$5 000 towards the event.The dinner raised more than N$ 560 000 in cash and pledges.

The Outapi Town Council pledged the highest amount of N$250 000, followed by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation with N$50 000 and First National Bank and Standard Bank with N$30 000 each. The Outapi Town hosts the Annual olufuko cultural festival for the eighth consecutive year and Omusati region governor, Erginus Endjala told the gala dinner that 55 girls have thus far registered to participate in the festival’s initiation this year.This year’s festival is scheduled to be held from 23 August to 1 September.

– Nampa