Ovazemba denied chieftaincy for over 30 years

… Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority claims group is of Angolan origin

The Ovazemba people in the Omusati region continue to struggle having their own chieftainship, since they are believed to be of Angolan origin.

The chairperson of the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority, Andreas Amunyela, yesterday said the Ovazemba community in the region, which has been pushing to establish their own traditional authority, are not originally Namibian.

He said the Ovazemba do not own land within the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority.

“The piece of land they occupy is for the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority,” Amunyela said.

He said the Ovazemba settled at Uukolonkadhi before he was born.

Some members of the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority regard the group as illegal immigrants from Angola.

The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) last week reported that the Ovazemba community claims their attempts to be recognised as a traditional authority have been futile for more than 30 years.

The Ovazemba recently held a meeting at Ovikange village in the Ruacana constituency to discuss their long-standing request.

They called on civil societies, human rights defenders, and the Office of the Ombudsman to urgently intervene to find an amicable solution.

In a letter to the unrecognised Ovazemba leader Julius Mwayambwatji in October 2022, acting Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority chief Malakia Shoombe said the community should stop their demands for the establishment of a traditional authority within the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority immediately.

Shoombe said the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority held four meetings with a group of Ovazemba between 16 September 2021 and 30 January 2022.

The Ovazemba at Uukolonkadhi want their own traditional authority to have the freedom to practise their culture and traditions, he said.

The group believes the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority forbids them to exercise these rights because they do not have a traditional leader of their own.

“Uukolonkadhi remains as one unit, and there is no need to have it divided. Uukolonkadhi is a traditional area of the Aakolonkadhi, but has opened up to receive people from neighbouring countries who flee their countries for different humanitarian reasons,” Shoombe said.

He said the Uukolonkadhi has housed Ovahimba, Aandongona, Aankumbi, Aankwankwa, Aatjihokue, Aahokaone, Mbundu and other groups all emanating from Angola.

“The Uukolonkadhi received them and offered them settlement and security in their existing land. None of these groups of people have land within the borders of Uukolonkadhi.

“They are always welcome to live their own way of life and are free to practise their cultures and traditions, as long as it is not contrary to the laws and regulations of the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority,” he said.

Shoombe said an Ovazemba person is currently a senior traditional councillor within the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority.

“There is no need to establish another traditional authority within the already existing Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority,” he wrote.

“It is now the desire and high expectations of the chief and Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority that the Ovazemba community ceases, herewith, pestering the traditional authority with this issue.”

Shoombe claimed that Uukolonkadhi chief Daniel Shooya and the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority hope and wish that the Ovazemba community completely abandons the idea of dividing the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority, and that they leave it intact.

Shoombe alleged in his letter that the Ovazemba are expected to stop forthwith making requests for the partitioning of parts of the land falling under the jurisdiction of chief Shooya and the Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority.

He yesterday confirmed to The Namibian that the letter was sent to the minister in 2022, but denied that the Ovazemba community is prevented from practising their culture and traditions.

According to him, they live freely with other tribes.

Ruacana councillor Andreas Shintama declined to comment on the matter, saying he is not a traditional authority leader.

The Ovazemba community is settled within the Ruacana constituency. The Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority and two former ministers of urban and rural development have in the past refused the establishment of an Ovazemba traditional authority.

Former minister Nicky Iyambo was the first urban and rural development minister to do so.

He told non-recognised Ovazemba chief Jonas Tjikulya in July 2001 that there is no need to establish a separate traditional authority from the existing Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority.

“The Ovazemba should be free to practise their culture, customs and language under the existing Uukolonkadhi Traditional Authority,” Iyambo wrote.

Another former minister, Jerry Ekandjo, in September 2009 wrote that there is no need to establish a separate Ovazemba traditional authority.