{"id":17456,"date":"2022-04-22T14:03:47","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T14:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opinion-otjikaendu-the-queen-of-the-townships"},"modified":"2022-04-22T14:16:40","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T14:16:40","slug":"opinion-otjikaendu-the-queen-of-the-townships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opinion-otjikaendu-the-queen-of-the-townships","title":{"rendered":"Opinion – Otjikaendu: The queen of the townships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Gerson Uaripi Tjihenuna<\/b><\/p>\n

On 5 April 2022, I heard the shocking news about the passing of Kukeheiue Milba Tjahere \u2013 a childhood friend and a distant relative of mine.<\/p>\n

She passed away on 3 April 2022 \u2013 two days after 1 April, as if to ironically re-define April fool\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

I have decided to refer to her as the queen of the townships because of her disarming charm and common touch with ordinary people, despite her crowning achievement.<\/p>\n

In this piece, I am using the word Otjikaendu interchangeably and seamlessly in reference to both the name of the restaurant and its owner \u2013 and that is by deliberate design.<\/p>\n

Kukeheiue, meaning \u201cunknown little girl\u201d in English, was one of a kind. She used to work as an ordinary waitress at what was then Copper Kettle Restaurant in the Southern Industrial Area of Windhoek until around the late nineties.<\/p>\n

This extraordinary woman took \u201ca bold step of faith\u201d by resigning from her job to start what has come to be known as Otjikaendu Den \u2013 a traditional restaurant in the Rykmansdorp Township (Windhoek).<\/p>\n

Otjikaendu has become a brand that specialises in African dishes, with its specific touch being Ovaherero cuisine.<\/p>\n

The menu would range from \u201cSmiley\u201d (goathead) to omatangara and porridge, served with omaere and Ovaherero traditional butter.<\/p>\n

Otjikaendu has become a popular social \u201chideout\u201d for intellectuals as well as ordinary people who want to \u201cescape\u201d from the busy life of Windhoek.<\/p>\n

Otjikaendu came to national attention, and it won government catering tenders as well.<\/p>\n

The owner, together with other small business owners, was also sponsored by government to attend international expos so as to give them international exposure.<\/p>\n

To many of her clients, she was known as Milba, the proud owner of Otjikaendu Den \u2013 but to me, she was more than that. To me, she was Kukeheiue.<\/p>\n

Her mother (Reree) was the elder sister of my uncle\u2019s wife \u2013 and because of these family ties, we grew up almost like siblings.<\/p>\n

We also had other long-standing family relations \u2013 and our two extended families would often mingle at social gatherings.<\/p>\n

When her own mother was on her dying bed, she sent for me so that I could pray for her, which I gladly did.<\/p>\n

Both of us spent a great deal of our formative childhood years at a village called Okei, some five kilometres south of Otjinene constituency.<\/p>\n

In the sixties, Otjinene Community school (now the Ngatjizeko C Primary School) did not have hostel facilities, and we used to commute on foot every weekday to school and back.<\/p>\n

On our way to school, we had to pass through the stony Eiseb River, which is known for its extremely cold winters.<\/p>\n

During the rainy season, we were often rained upon \u2013 and most of the time, we were bare-footed. She and I shared, inter alia, these common memories.<\/p>\n

She is being mourned in accordance with the rich traditions of Ovaherero people.<\/p>\n

The Ovaherero mourning ceremony is a laborious event that lasts for about a week.<\/p>\n

Female mourners would gather around the chief mourner \u2013 usually a female close relative of the deceased.<\/p>\n

Here, a very sad lament would be repeated in a very low-key rhythm in honour of the deceased.<\/p>\n

This lament would be vented in the most expressive of tones, with the chief mourner as the \u201clead orator\u201d.<\/p>\n

The English language is too tame and too distant to render full meaning to these sad, yet very deep and rich, emotions.<\/p>\n

Here, the family tree and the heroic exploits of the deceased are called to remembrance \u2013 and for her heroic exploits were in abundance. Here was a woman who rose from being an ordinary waitress to setting up a restaurant that carries a signature brand.<\/p>\n

Kukeheiue, the francolin birds in our expansive Okei water pan \u2013 a catchment area in the long-winding Eiseb River, which was the \u201cborder\u201d between our two families \u2013 are still singing you a sad lament (mazekokora).<\/p>\n

Our ancient Acacia trees that defy ageing realised that you were no longer a spring chicken, and they gave you a \u201cstanding, send-off ovation\u201d \u2013 while their yellow flowers that blossom during the springtime were dropping to deck your casket with a befitting decoration.<\/p>\n

The word Otjikaendu has double meaning in Otjiherero: it can mean ladylike or \u201cbig woman\u201d.<\/p>\n

She was indeed both.<\/p>\n

Rest in peace Kukeheiue, the \u201clittle unknown girl\u201d, who defied all the odds to become \u201cthe big known lady\u201d (Otjikaendu) \u2013 the queen of the townships.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Gerson Uaripi Tjihenuna On 5 April 2022, I heard the shocking news about the passing of Kukeheiue Milba Tjahere \u2013 a childhood friend and a distant relative of mine. She passed away on 3 April 2022 \u2013 two days after 1 April, as if to ironically re-define April fool\u2019s day. I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-17456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nOpinion - Otjikaendu: The queen of the townships - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gerson Uaripi Tjihenuna On 5 April 2022, I heard the shocking news about the passing of Kukeheiue Milba Tjahere ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opinion-otjikaendu-the-queen-of-the-townships\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opinion - 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