Kahimemua Nguvauva ( 1850 – 11 June 1896) was

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

of the

Ovambanderu The Mbanderu (''Ovambanderu'') are a population inhabiting eastern parts of Namibia and western parts of Botswana. They speak Herero language, Mbanderu (''Otjimbanderu)'' a Bantu language History and Culture Etymology While earlier theories of ...

, a

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Namaqua Genocide * Herero chat, a species of b ...

clan in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

(then

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

). Nguvauva was born at Musorakuumba, a settlement near

Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 24,100 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the ...

, and became chief of the Mbanderu in 1880, succeeding his father Munjuku Nguvauva. During his chieftaincy, Nguvauva was involved in constant hostilities with fellow Herero chiefs. He also was an outspoken opponent of the encroaching settlers of

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. The Germans supported

Samuel Maharero Samuel Maharero (1856 – 14 March 1923) was a Paramount Chief of the Herero people in German South West Africa (today Namibia) during their revolts and in connection with the events surrounding the Herero genocide. Today he is considered a na ...

to become Paramount Chief, and when his competitors, among them Nguvauva, did not accept this, they were stripped of their chieftaincy. Nguvauva's resistance eventually led to skirmishes with the German ''

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...

'', the protection force deployed in the colony. He sent his son Hiatuvao Nguvauva with several followers to

Ngamiland The North-West District or Ngamiland is one of the first-level administrative subdivisions of Botswana. For census and administrative purposes Ngamiland is subdivided into Ngamiland East, Ngamiland West and Ngamiland Delta (Okavango). It is gove ...

(part of present-day

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

), starting an exodus of Ovaherero from South West Africa to Botswana that only ended after the

Herero and Namaqua Genocide The Herero and Namaqua genocide or the Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged by the German Empire against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia). ...

of 1904—1907. In May 1896 in the Battle of Sturmfeld, Nguvauva was wounded and surrendered. Accused of organising the uprising against the Germans he was sentenced to death and executed in Okahandja. Sources place the day of execution on June 11, 12, or 13. His tombstone puts the date of death on 11 June 1896.

Recognition

Kahimemua Nguvauva is one of nine national heroes of Namibia that were identified at the inauguration of the country's Heroes' Acre near

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

. Founding president

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

remarked in his inauguration speech on 26 August 2002 that:

Chief Kahimemua Nguvauva's strong beliefs and convictions drew the anger of the German colonialists who decided to physically eliminate him. This led to intense battles with the German Colonial forces. In 1896, Chief Nguvauva was executed by the German colonial soldiers at Okahandja, because of his fierce resistance to colonialism and foreign occupation. ..To his revolutionary spirit and his visionary memory we humbly offer our honor and respect.

Nguvauva is honoured in form of a granite tombstone with his name engraved and his portrait plastered onto the slab. Nguvauva's grave in Okahandja was declared a National Monument in 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguvauva, Kahimemua 1850s births 1896 deaths People from Otjozondjupa Region National heroes of Namibia