“‘The Ovaherero are not divided’

By Walter Kariko and Charmaine Ngatjiheue

27 July 2026

The Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) insists its people remain united, despite two rival paramount chiefs.

Current chief of one faction Mutjinde Katjiua, on behalf of one traditional authority faction, said this at Red Flag Day (Otjiserandu) commemorations at Okahandja over the weekend.

The OTA currently has two paramount chiefs – both claiming to be legitimate. The other faction supports Hoze Riruako as chief.

OTA spokesperson Itamunua Meroro over the weekend reiterated that the Ovaherero people are not divided.

“We have skirmishes here and there. There is no community in this world that is 100% together.

Even our own government doesn’t have 60% representation. Are we going to say our Namibian people are divided?” he asked.

[…]

OTA adjudicator Rirua Komeheke says as long as one sees the three national flags of Ombara (chief), the Ovaherero people are united.

He says although they have a different understanding on the issue of law, they still remain a community.

[…]

GENOCIDE

Meanwhile, Meroro said the Ovaherero and Nama communities will continue the genocide fight until the Namibian and German governments hear their plea.

He said the joint declaration entered into by the two governments has nothing to do with the genocide or reparations.

[…]

The agreement is in direct violation of the motion of 2016/17 in the parliament, which was clearly talking about the inter-ethnic agreement, including the victims or descendants,” Meroro said.

[…]

The faction led by Riruako held their commemorations on 18 July.

[…].”

• Full report “‘The Ovaherero are not divided'” on the website of the Namibian (last checked in July 2026).

• See also the ‘OvaHerero Commemoration Day’ in Okahandja, 24 to 26 July 2026, by the OvaHerero Traditional Authority (OTA) under rivalling Paramount Chief Mutjinde Katjiua, in the ‘Perspectives’ section of this website.

• Note also the OvaHerero Commemoration ‘Otjiserandu’ in Okahandja, 17 to 19 July 2026, by the OvaHerero Traditional Authority (OTA) under rivalling Paramount Chief Hozé Riruako, in the ‘Perspectives’ section of this website.

• See the Joint Declaration of the Governments of Germany and Namibia in the ‘Primary Sources’ section of this website.

Editor’s note:

The OvaHerero Traditional Authority (OTA) under Paramount Chief Hozé Riruako held its commemoration ‘Otjiserandu’ on 17 to 19 July 2026. Otjiserandu means Red Flag.

The date refers to the day of Paramount Chief Hosea Kutako’s passing. Kutako died on 18 July 1970 at the age of 100 in the Aminuis Reserve (see also the Wikipedia article, that may contain unverified information).

The OvaHerero Traditional Authority (OTA) under Paramount Chief Mutjinde Katjiua originally scheduled their ‘OvaHerero Commemoration Day’ on the same weekend. The event premises of the two OTA factions are located right next to each other. To avoid conflict, Katjiua’s faction postponed its event to the weekend 24 – 26 July 2026.

The original annual Red Flag commemoration was held on a weekend close to 26 August. Established and driven by late Paramount Chief Hosea Kutako, it commemorated the burial of the mortal remains of Paramount Chief Samuel Maharero.

Samuel Maharero died on 14 March 1923 in exile in Serowe, Bechuanaland (today Botswana). His remains were repatriated to South West Africa (today Namibia) and interred in Okahandja from 23 to 26 August 1923 (see also the article on Wikipedia, that may contain unverified information).

The procession of the original Red Flag Commemoration first visited the graves of Samuel Maharero, his father Kamaharero and his grandfather Tjamuaha. The key to the now redesigned burial sites is apparently held by the Royal House Maharero. Neither of the two OTA factions visited these burial sites during their processions.