Oukwanyama Queen calls for unity

OUKWANYAMA Queen Mwadinomho Martha Kristian Nelumbu has urged her people to embrace unity amid infighting in the kingdom.

Nelumbu said this at a press conference at the office of the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority on Thursday.

She said the ongoing conflict follows the demise of Ohakafiya senior traditional councillor Job Haihambo some 11 years ago.

Nelumbu said the conflict was caused by some residents of Ohakafiya, who wanted Haihambo’s successor to be elected instead of being appointed by the Queen as per Oukwanyama customary laws.

She said those who were pushing for an election started allocating villages within the Ohakafiya district to unrecognised headmen, although they have no mandate to do so.

“We dragged them to the High Court, but later apologised when we reached a settlement agreement.

“Last year, the same people started allocating villages . . . We took them to court again for contempt of court. We later withdrew the case, because some of the people dragged to court apologised for their actions,” she said.

Nelumbu said some people claim the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority has lost the case.

“That is not true. . . This case was not argued in the court. We took the decision to withdrew it for the sake of unity within the kingdom. Since the other part had spent money to pay lawyers, we decided to pay their legal costs of about N$120 000, however, this does not mean they won the case,” she said.