Staff Writer
THE 54Th Otjimana commemoration tomorrow and Sunday in the small settlement of Omauezonjanda in the Epukiro Constituency of Omaheke region offers a golden opportunity for those not vaccinated yet, to do so.
The Hoveka Traditional Authority under whose auspices the cultural commemoration takes place every year, has deemed it prudent to also use the occasion to have those attending vaccinated. To their fortune and pleasure, the authorities, the health authority in the region has welcomed the idea and agreed to help in this regard with the activeness and involvement of the local health clinic.
This initiative comes in the wake of renewed appeals by the government for intensified vaccination campaigns countrywide and readiness in anticipation of the fourth wave of Covid-19 which lately has been advancing in foreign countries starting with China where the virus originated and Europe.
Meantime the commemoration, which is around the remembrance of erstwhile Otjimana leader, Nikanor Hoveka, who have been laid to rest in the traditional shrine of Otjimana in the settlement of Omauezonjanda, is once again expected to attract adherents of the three traditional flags of Red, Green and White during a ceremony highlighted by paramilitary parades and drilling by regiments of the three flags both on foot and on horses. Rooted in the anti-colonial struggles against German colonialism, the commemoration is also to see various speakers addressing the vexed question of Genocide, Apology and Reparations (GAR), with specific reference to the much-talked about Joint Declaration.
Among the highlights of the commemoration tomorrow, is a mass memorial service in the memory of members of the Otjimana Traditional Community who have since the onslaught of the Corona Virus in 2019, have succumbed to the dreaded virus, among them Gneeral Field Marshall Festus Kamburona and senior councilors, Ripanga Marenga, Fanuel Mbuende and Rehabeam Hoveka. The clan lost close to 20 of its member from the pandemic among them the wife of senior councilor Ebson Tjitunga, Kakero Tjitunga, and most lately the wife of senior councilor Ebson Kavita, Mbazumo. Due to Coid-19 outbreak, this commemoration was last in 2019.
