Also known as: Chief Riruako · Dr Hoze Riruako · Dr. Hoze Riruako · chief paramount Hoze Riruako
Hoze Riruako — Ovaherero Traditional Authority chief leading one faction in an ongoing paramount chieftaincy dispute, advocating for land allocation and genocide reparations.
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March 2026
The Namibian
Chief Hoze Riruakohas urgedgovernment to allocate land to disenfranchised Namibians instead of waiting for genocide reparations
Source
“Ovaherero Traditional Authority chief Hoze Riruako has urged the government to allocate land to disenfranchised Namibians instead of waiting for genocide reparation negotiations to conclude.”
Hoze Riruakosaidthe genocide issue cuts across tribal affiliation and should be treated as an issue that affected all Namibians
Source
“the newly installed Ovaherero splinter group chief Hoze Riruako said the genocide issue cuts across tribal affiliation and should be treated as an issue that affected all Namibians.”
Hoze Riruakosaidaffected communities want to reclaim what they have lost through solidarity with other Namibians and the government needs to be a key stakeholder
Source
“However, Riruako said affected communities want to reclaim what they have lost through solidarity with other Namibians and the government needs to be a key stakeholder to facilitate the move.”
The Ovaherero Traditional Authority has rejected calls to abolish the paramount chieftaincy amid an ongoing leadership dispute between rival factions over succession following the 2021 death of paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro. The matter is currently in the High Court, with competing factions supporting different candidates and legal costs reaching an estimated N$10 million.
The Ovaherero Traditional Authority has rejected calls to abolish the paramount chieftaincy amid an ongoing leadership dispute between rival factions over succession following the 2021 death of paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro. The matter is currently in the High Court, with competing factions supporting different candidates and legal costs reaching an estimated N$10 million.
The Ovaherero Traditional Authority has maintained its rejection of the Namibia-Germany joint declaration on the 1904-08 genocide, accusing the governments of excluding descendants of victims from negotiations. The OTA, alongside the Landless People's Movement and Nama Traditional Leaders Association, has taken the matter to the High Court.
Nudo secretary general Joseph Uapingene is to appear before a party committee after joining the government's genocide negotiations committee without party approval. Nudo maintains it did not nominate him and says he joined through his role in the Ovaherero Traditional Authority faction, leaving him to choose between his party position and the genocide committee role.
The Ovaherero Traditional Authority, which currently has two paramount chiefs both claiming legitimacy, insists its people remain united despite factional divisions. OTA officials said at Red Flag Day commemorations that internal skirmishes do not constitute division, and framed the remembrance as collective memory tied to the 1904–1908 genocide and ongoing pursuit of reparations.
Minister of Urban and Rural Development James Sankwasa has raised alarm over what he described as "underground capture" of Namibia's traditional authorities, warning that certain individuals are attempting to destabilise customary leadership structures. He stressed that recognition of traditional leaders will follow customary laws and cultural practices, and cautioned against what he termed the "over-democratisation" of traditional authorities.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah did not attend Genocide Remembrance Day events held at Shark Island and in six regions, drawing criticism from political and community leaders, though the vice president attended events in Ohangwena. The president's absence came despite an active public schedule that included attending agricultural and cultural festivals and other state events.
Four years after being brought to the High Court in 2022, the battle over the Paramount Chief position of the Ovaherero remains unsettled. Ovitoto chief Vipuira Kapuuo, chairman of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority's Chiefs' Council, contends that customary law dictates the council chairman becomes acting paramount chief upon the death of the incumbent; he is seeking a court order to declare himself acting paramount chief and to nullify a December 2021 meeting where academic Mutjinde Katjiua was elected paramount chief.
Legal costs in the dispute over the Ovaherero Traditional Authority paramount chieftaincy have reached an estimated N$10 million. Chief Vipuira Kapuuo continues his court challenge against professor Mutjinde Katjiua's claim to the position, arguing that as chairperson of the Chief's Council he is the rightful acting paramount chief and that a council meeting held in December 2021 that endorsed Katjiua was unlawful.
The Presidency clarified that Hoze Riruako's meeting with President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah should not be interpreted as recognition of him as paramount chief of the OvaHerero Traditional Authority, saying the matter remains before the courts and the executive cannot decide issues under judicial adjudication. The traditional authority has been disputed between Riruako's and Mutjinde Katjiua's factions.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah met with Hoze Riruako of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority to discuss land, genocide reparations, and community concerns. Riruako described the engagement as constructive and emphasized the importance of continued dialogue on historical issues.
The Ovaherero Traditional Authority faction led by Hoze Riruako met President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to advocate for quota-based land allocation for historically dispossessed communities, restitution of ancestral land rights, and renewed negotiations with Germany over 1904–1908 genocide reparations. Riruako said the Ovaherero community wants these issues addressed through Namibia's own development policies rather than relying solely on German compensation, and urged the government to formally recognize early liberation fighters and traditional leaders.
Ovaherero Traditional Authority chief Hoze Riruako has called on the government to allocate unoccupied land to the Herero population rather than wait for genocide reparation negotiations to conclude, clarifying that the initiative does not aim to reclaim legally acquired private land.