The Tjikuirire Stephanus Royal House on Saturday coronated Aaron Stephanus as the new Chief of the Orlam Vaalgras Traditional Authority (OVTA).
Stephanus becomes the fifth successor following the death of Chief Joel Stephanus who died in 2021 due to COVID-19 complications and served as chief of the OVTA for 46 years.
In his acceptance speech, Stephanus called for unity among the Vaalgras community, saying the community has enjoyed peace, unity and tranquillity for the past 115 years and the community should build on that.
‘One of my and my council’s objectives is to unite the divided traditional community and lead them into the unity of prosperity and success. I pledge to work together with everybody in the jurisdiction of the Vaalgras traditional authority and I thus call on everybody to work together with the authority entrusted with this noble responsibility,’ he said.
The traditional authority, he said is open for developmental opportunities with all government ministries, agencies and offices to ben
efit the rural impoverished neglected communities as his noble responsibility is set to specific targets, aims and objectives within specific timeframes.
‘This will revitalise the traditional community from the situation in which we find ourselves in terms of socio-economic development and the government projects and programmes. We must always strive to share the little that we have to distribute the wealth equally and equity to bring everybody economically on par,’ he said.
Stephanus added that the Orlams clan were described as a very progressive and prosperous clan which compels the OVTA to reclaim and restore human dignity and respect among all the other traditional communities.
Ovaherero Paramount Chief, Hoze Riruako on the sideline of the event, also joined the new chief in calling for unity among the community of Vaalgras for them to find a common purpose that is beneficial to the whole community.
‘You have seen that all almost every ethnic group in Namibia there is disunity. Now coming to the peopl
e I was appointed to lead, I want to reduce the level of hostility, anger and threats among these groups because people are misrepresenting one another and my idea is to try to work with every group for them to look for the common purpose that is beneficial to all,’ he said.
He added that disunity among communities can be retained through the youth citing that if one cultivates the idea of unity in them through the changing of their mindset that will help in breaching the disunity.
A delegation from the Ovaherero traditional authority as well as health deputy minister and National Unity Democratic Organisation president, Utjiua Muinjangue witnessed the coronation that that took place at farm Willemsput.
Interior and National Administration Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo has reiterated that the government will implement the report by the task force on police reforms which contains a raft of recommendations to improve the working conditions and welfare of security officers.
Dr Omollo said that the recommendations include logistics, mobility, and equipment to be used by the National Police Service, the Prisons Service, and the National Youth Service (NYS) to enhance their work and streamline service delivery to the public.
Speaking when he commissioned an ultra-modern police station at Sosiot centre in Belgut constituency which was funded through the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) at a cost of Sh9 million, Dr. Omollo said that the government has a grand plan to roll out the building and equipping of similar facilities across the country.
Dr Omollo who was flanked by the Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Mr Abdi Hassan, Belgut legislator Mr. Nelson Koech, Gem MP Elisha Odhi
ambo, and other local leaders, urged Kenyans to support the work of the police and the National Government Administration Officers (NGAO) in the implementation and delivery of the Kenya Kwanza economic transformation agenda which emphasizes housing settlement, universal health care, the digital economy, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and agriculture.
The Principal Secretary also assured residents that in consultation with his counterpart Amb. Julius Bitok Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services, will ensure that the Department of Registration of Births and Death is availed at Sosiot Centre, in Belgut to make it easier for them to access civil registration services.
Dr Omollo directed the Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Abdi Hassan to eradicate the endemic lotto gambling game menace that has rocked Chepnyoga Centre, Mobego village in Belgut where the residents were hooked on gambling and the sale and consumption of illicit brews.
At the same time, Dr Omollo revealed that Monday 13th Nov
ember is a national holiday set aside for a national tree planting exercise in which the government aims at planting over 100 million trees countrywide.
He said that tree seedlings will be availed at all Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs camps where residents will collect them for planting in designated public institutions, noting that County Commissioners will lead the exercise in every county.
The Interior PS also laid a foundation stone for the modernization of Mobego Primary School in Belgut where the area MP Nelson Koech intends to allocate Sh18 million from the NG-CDF for the project, Koech gave out a cheque of Sh3 million to start off the project.