Nehale lya Mpingana (died 28 April 1908) was '' Omukwaniilwa'' of Ondonga, a subtribe of the Owambo, in

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 ...

. Their tribal area is situated around

Namutoni Namutoni is a restcamp on the edge of Etosha pan in the Oshikoto Region in northern Namibia. It is one of the entrance gates to Etosha National Park. The most prominent structure at Namutoni is ''Fort Namutoni'', built in 1896. It was originally ...

on the eastern edge of

Etosha pan The Etosha Pan is a large endorheic salt pan, forming part of the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin in the north of Namibia. It is a hollow in the ground in which water may collect or in which a deposit of salt remains after water has evaporated. The 120-kilo ...

in today's northern

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 ...

. 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 and

Grootfontein , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Fons Vitæ , image_skyline = Grootfontein grass.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_si ...

, and declared it to be the Republic of Upingtonia. Mpingana's men shot William Worthington Jordan, 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 Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

. On 28 January 1904, 500 men under Mpingana attacked

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 hereditar ...

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 ...

'' at Fort Namutoni in the Battle of Namutoni. 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 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 202 ...

. 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 Nehale Lya Mpingana
ought ''Ought'' may refer to: *One of the English modal verbs *One of the names for the number 0 in English *Ought (band), a Montreal post-punk band on the Canadian Constellation Records See also *Is–ought problem *Categorical imperative The cate ...
many 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 Nehale Senior Secondary School is a public school in Onayena, Oshikoto Region, Namibia. Established in 1976, it is among the oldest secondary schools in the region. Nehale SSS is named after Nehale Mpingana, king of the Ondonga. The school is ...

Oshikoto Region Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...

. * Chief Nehale Mpingana Gate to

Etosha Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa. It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. ...

. Nehale lyaMpingana Constituency, an

electoral constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

in the

, 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