The Namibian Police told a group of close to 20 people to not go ahead with the meeting at which they wanted to announce the beginning of a fight to get a new head of their Uukwambi Traditional Authority.

The meeting at Oshakati this afternoon was supposed to be a presentation to the media of a plan to re-establish the royal lineage of King Iipumbu yaTshilongo whose reign over the Aakwambi people ended in 1932 after his house at Onatshiku was bombed by the colonial South African forces.

After the bombing, Iipumbu fled his kingdom and went to Kavango where he lived for five years and returned in 1938, but the colonial regime did not allow him to reclaim his kingship, until his death in 1959.

The group, of mostly people below the age of 50, wanted to announce the establishment of a committee, chaired by Mr Simeon Shimwandi Iitembu, “which is responsible to spearhead the designation of the Chief of Uukwambi, the Successor of King Iipumbu yaTshilongo.”

“So we are dispersing, as per [the police] request. As law abiding citizens we will go back to the drawing board and come back,” said the group’s spokesperson Mr Tangy Mike Tshilongo. “That’s all I am able to state for now.”

Tshilongo said that although the police’s reason for stopping the conference was that they are enforcing a court order, he was not in agreement with the action of the police.

“I read the court order, the court order has seven points that are aligned with the commemoration of the kings of Uukwambi,” he said. “There is nothing [in the court order] that stipulates [against] the designation of the chief of Uukwambi.

“These are two different subjects. The court order [given by the High Court on Thursday this week] was about the commemoration of the king’s day, while our conference of today was to be about the designation of a chief of Uukwambi, the successor of King Iipumbu.

“Nampol is trying to push us into a corner. We understand and comprehend why they are doing this. We will go back to the drawing board and meet where it hurts in the most possible way.”

When contacted for comment, Chief of Uukwambi Traditional Authority, Tatekulu Herman Ndilimani Iipumbu, said that he was not aware of the meeting by the group which wants to take him out of power.

“I will call you for a media conference on Tuesday where I will explain my position [on this matter],” he said.

In the photo: Some of the members of the group which is making plans for a new Uukwambi chief.