Thousands flock to omagongo festival

THE Onamega village, a few kilometres north-west of Oshakati, was on Saturday the scene of a joyous omagongo (marula) festival attended by a large number of national leaders, representatives of traditional authorities from across the country and thousands of local community members.

President Hage Geingob was slated to be the keynote speaker, with his speech delivered on his behalf by urban and rural development minister Sophia Shaningwa.

“Today, we celebrate a piece of our Namibian heritage, our way of life and our identity. Today, we are once again embracing our culture, coming together as Namibians to engage in an atmosphere of joyous celebration,” Geingob said.

He said it is important that Namibians learn to practise unity in diversity. “Unity and diversity when observed in isolation seem to be dichotomies, but when these two words are combined, an equilibrium is achieved, which transcends beyond tribes and ethnicities, beyond villages and regions, morphing various people with their unique cultural practices and norms, into one national cultural identity,” the President said.

Geingob noted that in their struggle, Africans always relied on culture and heritage to buttress their resolve and their will to fight.

“Let us lean on our culture and heritage to be the glue that binds us together and pulls us all in one direction towards the realisation of unity and economic progress,” he added.

The unified marula festival was the brainchild of Founding President Sam Nujoma, and was held for the first time in 2001. It is hosted on a rotational basis by the eight traditional authorities of Aawambo.

Last year, the festival was held at Ondonga, and will move to Uukwaluudhi next year.

The marula festival is the first Namibian festival to be recognised by Unesco.

Nujoma, who delivered a speech on the importance of culture, expressed disappointment that there are young people in Namibia today who cannot speak their mother tongues.

He said parents spend too much time drinking at shebeens instead of teaching their offspring traditional norms and customs.

“As a result, young people no longer know and are no longer interested in their culture.”

However, Nujoma said he is delighted that Namibians are now reviving their cultural heritage, and the Omagongo festival and others, such as the totem expo and the olufuko cultural festival serve to practically demonstrate a national collective objective.

“A nation without culture is like a tree without roots,” he stressed.

Nujoma encouraged traditional leaders to continue promoting cultural heritage, and to instil these norms and values into the youth to create a strong nation.

He also castigated young people who attack elderly people, and urged chief Herman Iipumbu to ensure that such wayward youths are punished.

He said this in an apparent reference to an incident where elderly former Omusati governor Leonard Mukwiilongo was brutally attacked by four men in his homestead at Elim in a failed robbery attempt last month.

He was threatened with a pistol and blindfolded, but still refused to hand over the keys to a safe.

He was admitted in hospital due to the injuries he sustained, and sadly passed away a few days ago.