Nehale lya Mpingana (died 28 April 1908) was ''
Omukwaniilwa'' of
Ondonga
Ondonga is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Ondangwa, and the kingdom's palace is at Onambango. Its people call themselves ''Aandonga''. They speak the Ndonga dialect. The Ondonga kingdom ...
, a subtribe of the
Owambo, in
German South West Africa. Their tribal area is situated around
Namutoni on the eastern edge of
Etosha pan in today's northern
Namibia. He reigned over the eastern part of the Ondonga area from 1884 until his death;
Kambonde II kaMpingana was chief of the western part.
Under Mpingana's leadership the Ondonga fought and won two wars against intruders into their area. In 1886, South African settlers on their
Dorsland Trek were defeated after they—allegedly fraudulently—acquired land between
Otavi
Otavi is a town of 4,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central Namibia. Situated 360 km north of Windhoek, it is the district capital of the Otavi electoral constituency.
Geography
The towns of Otavi, Tsumeb (to the north) and Gro ...
and
Grootfontein, and declared it to be the
Republic of Upingtonia
Lijdensrust, officially the Republic of Lijdensrust, was a short-lived Boer republic in the area of present-day Namibia. Declared on 20 October 1885, it was originally named Upingtonia, but changed its name soon after as the reason for its orig ...
. Mpingana's men shot
William Worthington Jordan William Worthington Jordan (1849–1886) was a hunter, trader, and writer in Southern Africa.
Born at Wynberg in the Cape Colony, Jordan was of mixed race. He became a trader and hunter in what is now Botswana and Namibia. In 1880 he established ...
, the leader of the trek. The group dispersed after the attack, with some settlers moving on towards Angola, and others turning back to the
Transvaal.
On 28 January 1904, 500 men under Mpingana attacked
Imperial Germany ''
Schutztruppe'' at Fort Namutoni in the
Battle of Namutoni
The Battle of Namutoni fought between the militaries of the Ondonga kingdoms and German South West Africa on 28 January 1904 was part of an uprising against German Colonial expansion catalysed by the Herero Uprising to the south that started a fe ...
. The 7 defenders of the fort fled under the cover of the night. Mpingana and his men confiscated horses and cattle
and destroyed the outpost.
After his death in 1908 he was succeeded by
Kambonde III kaNgula.
[
]
Recognitions
* Nehale Mpingana is one of nine national heroes of Namibia that were identified at the inauguration of the country's Heroes' Acre near Windhoek. Founding president Sam Nujoma remarked in his inauguration speech on 26 August 2002 that:
Chief Nehale Lya Mpingana oughtmany battles against Afrikaner trekkers and German colonial forces in our people's resistance against colonialism and foreign invaders. ..To his revolutionary spirit and his visionary memory we humbly offer our honor and respect.
* Nehale is honoured in form of a granite tombstone with his name engraved and his portrait plastered onto the slab.[
*Chief Mpingana has numerous namesakes in Namibia, for instance Nehale Senior Secondary School in Oshikoto Region.
* Chief Nehale Mpingana Gate to Etosha. ]Nehale lyaMpingana Constituency
Nehale IyaMpingana Constituency is an electoral constituency in the Oshikoto Region of Namibia, named after Nehale lya Mpingana, one of Namibia's National Heroes. It was created in August 2013, following a recommendation of the ''Fourth Delimita ...
, an electoral constituency in the Oshikoto Region, was created and named in his honour in August 2013.
References
{{Authority control
1908 deaths
Namibian politicians
Ovambo people
Year of birth uncertain
National heroes of Namibia
Namibian revolutionaries