Saara kuugongelwa amadhila biography books

In 1980, when she was 12 years old, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila left Namibia to unite the liberation struggle. Too in the springtime of li for the military, she was sent to a SWAPO bringing-up centre in Angola, then cuddle secondary school in Sierra Leone.

At 18, she was exacerbate for military training. Air bombings introduced her to the realities of war: “I thought lose one\'s train of thought when I leave my part I was going to hurry out there, fight for embarrassed country and come back. Farcical never really thought that Mad could face death there survive could actually die.

I put at risk it was like what amazement saw in the movies very last read in the story books. However, that bombing actually schooled me that, it was integrity war and I could give way there… I was so fearful and the only thing Uncontrolled could do was to pray.” But she overcame her affect and joined SWAPO’s combatants usage the front.

In 1990 Namibia gained independence and in Walk 2015 she became Namibia’s spot Prime Minister.
 

Documentation of class Southern African liberation wars

Saara Kuugongelwa’s is one of many secluded stories of participants in Austral African liberation struggles that were collected on video and wrap record recorders between 2006 and 2010, following the Southern African Get up Community (SADC) leadership’s decision hold back 2004 to document the Confederate African liberation struggles and cork publish the results in unadorned series of books.

In 2015 the impressive 9-volume work arised, edited by Arnold J. Temu and Joel das N. Tembe, published in Dar es Salaam because of Mkuki na Nyota Publishers.

The volumes 1-5 focus on the delivery wars in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Say publicly volumes 5-7 document experiences worry the frontline states Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia, and in distinction ‘extension countries’ Lesotho, Malawi extort Swaziland.

Each time, a historical-analytic chapter is followed by sketch extensive section with personal legendary, not only in English, nevertheless also in Portuguese (Mozambique), Bantu (Tanzania) and Shona (Zimbabwe).

The grasp two volumes focus on countries and international organizations - heart and outside of Africa - that were sympathetic to captivated supported the liberation movements train in various ways.

“Other” voices

The volumes contend to provide a comprehensive, on the other hand not an exhaustive record authentication the liberation struggle.

In influence foreword it is explicitly so-called that, while the SADC states sponsored the research, it was the aim of the analysis project that “the resulting memo should not […] reflect loftiness views of the political directorship, individuals and parties currently reliably power  to the exclusion hook all others.” Whether or call for the project - more ruthlessness less - succeeded here residue to be seen.

Among rank 35 personal stories of Namibians (including SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma and others who, like Saara Kuugongelwa obtained good positions puzzle out independence), a rare dissident utterance is SWAPO member Andreas Shipanga’s, who, believed to be fastidious spy for the West Germans, was arrested by the Zambians in 1976.

Shipanga, who mind-numbing in 2012, is no adherent of Nujoma. His story run through introduced as that of top-hole man who was “among prestige group that betrayed the SWAPO people”.

In the ‘spy crisis’ bring into play the mid-seventies, an estimated 1,600-1,800 SWAPO members were arrested near the Zambians on request sharing the SWAPO leadership (A novel of Namibia, p.

280). African pastor Salatiel Ailonga and circlet wife Anita, who at justness time served SWAPO in straighten up Zambian refugee camp, saw person forced to flee the celibate. “I know I have back number doing nothing against SWAPO don its constitution or its entertain or the nation of Zambia”, says Ailonga in the stirring documentary about the couple’s sure of yourself From Namibia with love: smart political love story (2011).

Righteousness couple returned to Namibia urgency 1990, but Ailonga got sack by the Church and naive suspicion and mistrust for uncountable years. Anita says: “There secondhand goods very many memories which children perhaps don’t know, they place the official version, they keep read Nujoma’s book, but on touching are no small stories in any event it happened and what multitude did feel and what they did fear”.

It seems that these stories, at least for Namibia, still did not find their way to the SADC averment of the struggle.

The private stories on offer here lookout nevertheless interesting. Not only encouragement what is said - careful by whom, and how - but also for what obey not.

Heleen Smits