Kuaima Isaac Riruako (24 April 1935CV at Namibian Parliament website
– 2 June 2014) was a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n politician and the

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...

of the

Herero people The Herero () are a Bantu people, Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. 178,987 Namibians identified as Ovaherero in the 2023 census. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, there ...

. He served as a

National Unity Democratic Organisation The National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) is a political party in Namibia. It has been represented in the National Assembly of Namibia and in the National Council of Namibia since it split from the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (now PDM ...

(NUDO) representative in Parliament, and he was the President of NUDO and its presidential candidate in the 2004 presidential election, placing fourth with 4.23% of the national vote.

Life and career

Riruako was born into the Tjamuaha- Maharero royal family on 24 April 1935 in the settlement of Otjewe in the Aminuis Constituency. His birth name was Issaskar Kakuremdiro; the name Kuaima he assumed later in life after his grandfather. He attended school at St. Barnabas Primary in Windhoek and at the end of the 1960s went on to study at the Kwame Nkumah School of Ideology in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. He also obtained an Associate BA from the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Stemming from his traditional upbringing in rural

South-West Africa South West Africa was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. South West Africa bordered Angola ( a Portu ...

, Riruako had vast knowledge of indigenous knowledge, folklore, history, and family lineages. According to family folklore, Riruako had several

revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

s during his life. He is said to have foretold the assassination of

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), also known as H. F. Verwoerd, was a Dutch-born South African politician, scholar in applied psychology, philosophy, and sociology, and newspaper editor who was Prime Mini ...

in 1966, and a further revelation allegedly saved his life when he was left for dead on the uninhabited

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

n Mombova Island. After 14 days without food and water, it is said that he was told to stand upright on the tiny island, an action that alerted local fishermen that came to investigate where the second "tree" on that island suddenly came from. After the assassination of Clemens Kapuuo in 1978, Riruako became Paramount Chief of the Herero. He remained in that position until his death. As Okahandja Herero, Riruako has led an effort to receive compensation from the

Government of Germany The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief Executive (government), executive body of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the Federal level (Germany), federal level. It consists of the Chancellor ...

for the Herero massacre between 1904 and 1907 in the same manner that

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

have received compensation for their

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Germany ruled this out, but he won a formal apology from the German government. Riruako was a member of the Constitutional Council from 1986 to 1987 and was first elected to the

National Assembly of Namibia The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of cl ...

as a candidate of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) in 1994. In September 2003, NUDO withdrew from the DTA, with Riruako accusing the DTA of failing to work for Herero interests; Riruako became President of NUDO as an independent party on 18 September 2003, and he resigned from the National Assembly in the same month. He was subsequently elected as a NUDO candidate in the November 2004 parliamentary election and served for a second period in the National Assembly beginning on 20 March 2005. In October 2009, NUDO again chose Riruako as their candidate for the 2009 presidential election. In November 2008, Riruako's home in Aminuis burnt to the ground, killing two of his grandchildren. An elderly woman was saved from the burning home by community members. Riruako was not home at the time of the fire. After this incident the community decided to help their Chief by donating money and other types of donations to him. After more than a month in ICU for high blood pressure, Riruako died on 2 June 2014 in

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, which ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riruako, Kuaima 1935 births 2014 deaths People from Omaheke Region Herero people Popular Democratic Movement politicians National Unity Democratic Organisation politicians Members of the 2nd National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 3rd National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 4th National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 5th National Assembly of Namibia Candidates for President of Namibia Herero Chiefs' Council affiliate