Oukwanyama leader backs calls for return of Mandume skull
OMHEDI – The Oukwanyama Traditional Authority on Saturday held a belated 104-year remembrance of its late leader Mandume yaNdemufayo at the Oukwanyama royal homestead at Omhedi village in the Ohangwena region.
Leader of the Oukwanyama Martha Mwadinomho waKristian yaNelumbu laid wreaths on the yaNdemufayo monument to honour the role he
played in fighting the colonial forces before dying in the operation of Oihole jungle in southern Angola on 6 February 1917.
She also laid wreaths on the grave of her predecessor, Kornelius Mwetupunga Shelungu who died in 2005 and is buried in the royal cemetery at Omhedi, and the graves of her late son, Henock Mandume Hangula and another royal member,
Hileni Kahona Hatutale.
Hangula and Hatutale were buried at Omhedi in 2015 and 2019, respectively.
Speaker after speaker during Saturday’s remembrance described yaNdemufayo, who served the Oukwanyama community between 1911 and 1917, as one of the fallen heroes in the fight against imperialism and colonialism in Africa.
It is believed that the colonial forces decapitated yaNdemufayo after his death at Oihole. The whereabouts of his head remains unknown and as such, yaNelumbu during Saturday’s commemoration appealed to anyone with information regarding the missing skull to come forth.
Former President Hifikepunye Pohamba during the remembrance also at Omhedi village in 2013 demanded the yet unresolved return of yaNdemufayo’s skull from the British people.
“The English should inform us where Mandume’s head is and it is a demand, not a request, that they return his skull,” demanded Pohamba then.
A combined British-South African force and Portuguese forces are said to have been involved in the battle where yaNdemufayo was either shot or allegedly shot himself to avoid capture by the colonial forces.
OLUKONDA councillor Fillemon Ndjambula fears subsistence farmers in the constituency might have a bad harvest this season due to poor rainfall.
Despite many parts of Namibia receiving above average to good rainfall, Ndjambula said his constituency received poor rainfall, dashing all hopes of a bumper harvest. Ndjambula said he was thus worried about the status of crops, which have started wilting due to the scorching heat.
“The cultivation season started well, and many farmers worked their fields. However, in the past weeks we have not received sufficient rainfall hence the crops are dying,” he said.
“We therefore fear a poor harvest which will definitely affect food sustainability. People will go hungry and it is not our intention to beg government for handouts.”
The councillor therefore warned community members to brace for a potential poor harvest as the situation unfolds. Ndjambula is the founding councillor of Olukonda, having served in that capacity for a number of years. He left office in 2010 and was again elected last year to “finish what started”.
“We laid the foundation before; other councillors came after me and did their part. I am now here again to forge ahead with the developmental agenda. I am the people’s servant, they have found it fit for me to lead them to prosperity again,” added Ndjambula, who also doubles as National Council representative.
Being a national leader, he said, he will push ahead to have the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) finalised and gazetted into law so that each constituency can draw their own budgets based on their needs.
“Once the CDF Bill is gazetted, it will be much easier to deal with our problems. Right now, we have issues with poor roads – many of our residents’ vehicles are continuously breaking down due to rough gravel surfaces. In addition, there is also a need to have more access roads constructed to increase accessibility as some areas are near impossible to reach,” he said.
Access to water is another urgent project he intends to undertake, saying about 40% of the community do not have safe drinking water.