Katjiua: Here is how govt is favouring Aawambo ...
Ovaherero Traditional Authority paramount chief, Professor Mutjinde Katjiua, has accused government of favouring the Aawambo tribe and placing them above other ethnic groups.
He made the comments following an interview on The Agenda.
“Our government is posturing to represent Aawambo more than any other tribe in the country - that is the posture of the elite running the country.
“For the commoners, the minority group in the country, it appears the government’s first priority is the Aawambo people,” he said.
Katjiua made reference to the National Heritage Council of Namibia choosing to commemorate Fort Namutoni, which he said was a one-day battle won over the then German colonial empire, and questioned its failure to do the same for the victims of the Herero-Nama genocide whose remains lie exposed in both the Namib and Kalahari deserts.
Turning blind eye
“The Ndongas fought a battle at Namutoni and won. Not a war, a battle.
"The Ndongas - through the National Heritage Council of Namibia - managed to put up a monument, but the state through the head of state moved to have that inaugurated,” he said.
“The state is turning a blind eye to the bones lying naked in the Kalahari and Namib deserts,” Katjiua added.
The paramount chief also took issue with President Hage Geingob’s refusal to attend cultural events hosted by the Damara Traditional Authority, but attending Olufuko, an initiation ceremony held by Aawambo tribes that prepares girls for marriage, instead.
“Take for instance the Damara Cultural Festival, the president is invited. What does he say? ‘I’m not going to a tribalist activity.’ [But] what does he do, he goes to Olufuko - all those things because there is a national agenda,” Katjiua said.
Struggle kids favoured
He further took aim at the so-called ‘struggle kids’, saying their ethnicity as Aawambo placed them favourably to benefit from government programmes, unlike other marginalised communities.
“We have people in Okakarara, in Okamatapati, in the south who have worked for years as volunteers, as cleaners, in hospitals, in schools, but all of a sudden, struggle kids are the ones who are supposed to get the jobs? Are struggle kids more Namibian than other Namibians?” Katjiua asked.
“When you look at the language of struggle kids, they all [speak] Oshiwambo. What impression does it create for those who worked as volunteers?”
He added that there are 3 000 Ovaherero people living outside the country because of a lack of employment in Namibia.
“It’s a headache that 3 000 Hereros are sitting today in the United Kingdom. Why did they go there? It is because of continuous marginalisation of access to employment,” he said.
He made the comments following an interview on The Agenda.
“Our government is posturing to represent Aawambo more than any other tribe in the country - that is the posture of the elite running the country.
“For the commoners, the minority group in the country, it appears the government’s first priority is the Aawambo people,” he said.
Katjiua made reference to the National Heritage Council of Namibia choosing to commemorate Fort Namutoni, which he said was a one-day battle won over the then German colonial empire, and questioned its failure to do the same for the victims of the Herero-Nama genocide whose remains lie exposed in both the Namib and Kalahari deserts.
Turning blind eye
“The Ndongas fought a battle at Namutoni and won. Not a war, a battle.
"The Ndongas - through the National Heritage Council of Namibia - managed to put up a monument, but the state through the head of state moved to have that inaugurated,” he said.
“The state is turning a blind eye to the bones lying naked in the Kalahari and Namib deserts,” Katjiua added.
The paramount chief also took issue with President Hage Geingob’s refusal to attend cultural events hosted by the Damara Traditional Authority, but attending Olufuko, an initiation ceremony held by Aawambo tribes that prepares girls for marriage, instead.
“Take for instance the Damara Cultural Festival, the president is invited. What does he say? ‘I’m not going to a tribalist activity.’ [But] what does he do, he goes to Olufuko - all those things because there is a national agenda,” Katjiua said.
Struggle kids favoured
He further took aim at the so-called ‘struggle kids’, saying their ethnicity as Aawambo placed them favourably to benefit from government programmes, unlike other marginalised communities.
“We have people in Okakarara, in Okamatapati, in the south who have worked for years as volunteers, as cleaners, in hospitals, in schools, but all of a sudden, struggle kids are the ones who are supposed to get the jobs? Are struggle kids more Namibian than other Namibians?” Katjiua asked.
“When you look at the language of struggle kids, they all [speak] Oshiwambo. What impression does it create for those who worked as volunteers?”
He added that there are 3 000 Ovaherero people living outside the country because of a lack of employment in Namibia.
“It’s a headache that 3 000 Hereros are sitting today in the United Kingdom. Why did they go there? It is because of continuous marginalisation of access to employment,” he said.
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