Keharanjo II Xavier Komavau Nguvauva (12 October 1984 – 8 April 2011) was the youngest

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

of the

Ovambanderu The Mbanderu (singular: ''Omumbanderu'', plural: ''Ovambanderu'') are a population inhabiting eastern parts of Namibia and western parts of Botswana. They speak Herero language, Otjiherero, a Bantu language. History and Culture Etymology While e ...

, a

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Nama genocide * Herero chat, a species of bird ...

clan in

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 ...

. Keharanjo was born to the

family to the then Chief

Munjuku Nguvauva II Munjuku Nguvauva II (January 1, 1923 – January 16, 2008) was a Namibian traditional paramount chief and leader of the Ovambanderu people, a subtribe of the Herero. Nguvauva was also deputy chief of Namibia's Traditional Leaders Council. Early ...

and his wife Aletta Karikondua Nguvauva. He was reported dead on the evening of Friday 8 April 2011 in the residential area of

Khomasdal Khomasdal is a suburb of Namibia's capital of Windhoek in the Khomas Region. Founded as Windhoek's residential area for Coloured people, Khomasdal still is primarily composed of Coloured people. In October 2006, the City of Windhoek announc ...

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 ...

where he committed suicide using an electric wire.

Education

Keharanjo began primary school in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. He passed primary and moved on to Sepopa CJSS for his Junior Certificate until he completed his Form Five from Maun Senior Secondary School. Keharanjo graduated with an

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the University of Western Cape in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 2010. He was employed as a legal advisor in the Namibian Ministry of Justice.

Early life

Keharanjo just like an ordinary Mbanderu young boy, he spent his early years tending his father’s livestock at Ezorongondo,

Omaheke Omaheke (the Otjiherero word for sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari Desert. Th ...

Region. In 1988, his father took him to Ondauha in

, about from Maun, to the grave of Keharanjo’s grandfather, Chief Keharanjo I Nguvauva. There he was introduced to the Mbanderu community as a future chief. Nguvauva was then taken to the house of Chief Mathiba Moremi of Batawana, for him to be groomed to be a leader. He was also left in the care of Manuel Nguvauva, brother to Kilus Nguvauva and half-brother to Keharanjo. He was in tussle fight of succeeding his father, the late Munjuku Nguvauva II, with his half-brother Kilus Nguvauva who is Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy. The succession dispute amongst the two half-brothers caused division in the Ovambanderu community. The Namibian government once issued an investigation into the succession disagreement between the two half-brothers which and concluded that Keharanjo is the rightful and legitimate heir to the throne. After Keharanjo's suicide the succession battle reignited, this time between Kilus Nguvauva and Aletha Nguvauva who was crowned queen by one of the OvaMbanderu faction. Only late in 2014 was a decision reached when government decided not to appeal a High Court decision in favor of Kilus Nguvauva.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguvauva, Keharanjo 1984 births 2011 deaths Suicides by hanging in Namibia Namibian chiefs People from Omaheke Region University of the Western Cape alumni