Confusion over status of Oshikunde headman

Confusion reigns in the Ohakafiya East district of Oukwanyama in the Ohangwena Region after a village headman who was suspended by the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority was reinstated by a dissident group that has vowed to disobey the existing traditional leadership. The dissident group recently intensified its activities in both Ohakafiya West and the Ohakafiya East in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy and authority of Queen Martha Nelumbu. The group, which allegedly consists mostly of school teachers and dismissed former traditional leaders, has reinstated the headman of Oshikunde village, Shitundeni Nambinga, who was suspended by the Oukwanyama Traditional Authority earlier this month. Nambinga is being investigated after being accused of hindering NDF soldiers who were collecting firewood for the queen’s palace in his area. Nambinga admitted having hindered the soldiers, but implicated a local schoolmaster as the person who instructed him to block the military trucks. Speaking to Namibian Sun on Monday, the head of Ohakafiya East, Toivo Shiweda, confirmed that Nambinga was reinstated by unknown people last week. “I was informed that unidentified people held a meeting while I was at Eenhana and reinstated suspended village headman Shitundeni Nambinga in his position. There is however no documentary proof, no name of who reinstated him and by whose authority it was done. That is to say, what happened is a nullity and we will not allow ourselves to be distracted by such manoeuvres,” he said. Shiweda said the so-called reinstatement of Nambinga was meaningless, meant only to cause confusion among villagers. He said he has already established a committee to direct the affairs of Oshikunde village while the headman is serving his suspension. Shiweda could not reveal the identities of the group who allegedly reinstated Nambinga, limiting himself to saying that the group is led by a schoolmaster and consists mostly of teachers and young people who consider those teachers as role models and believe that whatever they do is right. “People involved in the agitation are a disobedient and rebellious lot, with no respect for traditional leaders,” he said.