Placido Hilukilwa
ATTEMPTS were made over many decades to present Nehale Lya Mpingana as a rebel, a secessionist and an imposter king.
He was completely excluded from lists of the Kings of Ondonga.
However, times are changing.
A new, totally different picture of Nehale is emerging, kick-started in the 1990s when Etosha’s King Nehale Gate was inaugurated and a memorial stone identifying Nehale as “King” was erected at the burial site of Ondonga warriors who fell in battle at Namutoni (Amutuni lyOmanenge).
His image was further enhanced in 2002 when the Heroes Acre was constructed and Nehale was placed among the first nine National Heroes.
There is even a lodge named after him and located a stone’s throw from the Nehale Gate.
The unveiling Saturday of Amutuni lyOmanenge Warriors memorial completed the process of restoring Nehale’s status: A hero, not a rebel; a king, not an imposter.
Informanté interviewed some of the attendees of Saturday’s event.
Erginus Endjala, the governor of the Omusati Region, said: “We are correcting a history that was distorted. Actions such as the attack on the Namutuni Fort inspired succeeding generations to take up arms against the colonizers. And this is not an exclusive Ovandonga event, but rather part of the history of an entire nation resisting colonial occupation.”
The governor of the Ohangwena Region, Walde Ndevashiya, said the warriors’ monument serves to enlighten young generations about Namibians’ difficult struggle against colonial occupation.
“We need to emulate the warriors’ determination and as we forge ahead building the nation,” he said.
Political scientist Job Amupanda said that most oral historians had presented Nehale as a rebel.
He said that Nehale’s status is now restored thanks to Omukwaniilwa Nangolo’s efforts.
But the old narrative still lives on here and there.
Nehale was the younger brother of Kambonde Ka Mpingana who was king of Ondonga from 1884 to 1909.
Nehale refused to be ruled by Kambonde and appointed himself head of the Eastern Ondonga kingdom.
The Ondonga Traditional community was reunited after Nehale’s death.
