01 May 2017

Hambukushu community in Botswana will join their counterparts in Namibia for a cultural festival and celebration of the 26th anniversary of their Royal Highness Fumu Mbambo slated for May 6.

The event would be held at Mukwe Tribal Office in the Kavango East region and the Namibian President is expected to  give a keynote address.

The cultural festival, which is held annually in Etsha 6, is a unique event that reunites the Hambukushu community  from Botswana and neighbouring countries such as Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and even as far as Kenya to celebrate their culture in style.

In an interview, Mbungu Wa Kathimana Cultural Society national chairperson in Botswana, Bafenyang Ngaka confirmed that Hambukushu Traditional Authority in Namibia has invited them to the cultural festival.

He said they welcomed the invitation as it would encourage all the Hambukushu to embrace unity in all their dealings, adding that they were one nation and as such, they should work  together.

Ngaka said during the event, His Royal Highness, Mbambo would address his community as per the custom of the Hambukushu people.

“Our counterpart in Namibia has a paramount chief and this would be a great opportunity for us to benchmark as currently, we have applied for recognition as a tribe,” he said.

Therefore, he said  the event would give them an opportunity to learn a lot about their bogosi tree and the procedures of bogosi issues.

The Hambukushu, like all other Bantu speaking people, came from one central point.

Due to hostilities, tribal conflict, availability of better farming land, feminine diseases and all other sorts of natural disasters, Hambukushu migrated from a more northern region in the Central Africa and moved south wards into Barotseland (now known as Zambia).

In Botswana, they are found in North West district more especially in the Okavango region in villages and settlements such as Beetsha, Eretsha, Gunotsoga, Seronga, Mokgacha, Tobera, Etsha 1-13, Ikoga, Sepopa just to mention a few.

They share the border with their relatives in Kavango region in Namibia. ENDS