Paper short abstract:

It is popularly believed that King Mandume’s head was decapitated and that it was buried under the Ovambo Campaign Memorial in Windhoek. Many people still have this belief and associate this monument with Mandume.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the historic importance of one public memorial monument in Windhoek claimed to honour him. Ovambo Campaign Memorial was erected in 1919 to commemorate the British South Africa troops who died during the campaign against King Mandume in Oihole on 6 February 1917. It has however been appropriated as a memorial to King Mandume, as many OvaKwanyama claimed that the king's head was decapitated and later taken to Windhoek where it was installed in the Ovambo Campaign Memorial. During colonial rule many Ovambos came to Windhoek as migrant labourers where they lived in locations. Thus Windhoek was an intersection point between north and south and the coast, with labour coming from the north and mines, harbours and farms in the south.

This paper has been developed in collaboration Kletus Likuwa.