Allexer Namundjembo
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah has said liberation struggle veteran Mathias Kanana Hishoono deserved the state funeral he was accorded.
He said actions must be understood within the harsh colonial context of the time.
“In my view, Kanana Hishoono still deserved the state funeral he was accorded,” Kamwanyah said in response to questions from the Windhoek Observer on Sunday.
He said that Hishoono testified in the 1968 terrorism trial involving Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and other accused freedom fighters, but the circumstances under which that testimony was given remain unclear.
“While it is true that he might have testified in the terrorism case against Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and others, we do not fully know the conditions under which that testimony was given. Given the colonial context at the time, it is very possible that he acted under pressure or duress,” Kamwanyah said.
Kamwanyah cautioned against defining Hishoono’s legacy by that single episode.
“It would therefore be unfair to judge his entire life and contribution to Namibia based on that single moment,” he said.
He said Hishoono’s broader record reflected a sustained commitment to national development.
“From what we know of his broader life, Tatekulu Hishoono consistently advocated for a better Namibia and worked for the benefit of all Namibians,” Kamwanyah said, adding that this contribution justified the state funeral.
At a memorial service held on Friday, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah also described Hishoono as a key figure in Namibia’s liberation history whose contributions went beyond political mobilisation.
“Comrade Hishoono was not only a mobiliser of people but also a builder of minds,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said while noting his strong belief in education as a tool of empowerment.
She said Hishoono taught, guided and inspired young Namibians, both in exile and at home, to imagine a free and sovereign country.
“Through his words and his actions, he planted courage where there was fear and purpose where there was uncertainty,” she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said Hishoono endured hardship, torture and imprisonment under apartheid but remained firm in his belief that Namibia would one day be free.
She added that Hishoono viewed independence as the start of a new phase focused on economic emancipation.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said he [Hishoono] believed true independence should be measured by whether citizens live with dignity, opportunity and hope, and he continued to urge leaders and young people to see nation-building as an ongoing responsibility.
However, Phil ya Nangoloh, a human rights activist, argued that we should present Hishoono’s history in its entirety, including the challenging chapters.
“I fully agree with those who say that Tatekulu Hishoono had done good things towards Namibia’s struggle for self-determination and independence,” Ya Nangoloh said in a statement published on his social media pages.
“However, the fact that he had also played a decisive role in the conviction of the late Tatekulu Herman ya Toivo and some 36 other Namibian freedom fighters must not be glossed over.”
“In light of this fact, history must be told as it is,” Ya Nangoloh said, adding that Hishoono’s role during that period “must not be shoved under the carpet for political expediency.”
Hishoono was a veteran of Namibia’s liberation struggle and a long-serving Swapo cadre whose political involvement dates back to the late 1950s.
He was a founding member of the Ovamboland People’s Organisation (OPO) in 1959 and later played a role in the formation of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) in 1960.
He was active in mobilisation and recruitment during the early years of the struggle and is credited with bringing several key figures into the movement, including former late president Hage Geingob, whom he signed up as a Swapo member in 1962.
After independence, Hishoono served in advisory and leadership roles.
He was a special political adviser to the late founding president Sam Nujoma and later to former president Hifikepunye Pohamba.
Within Swapo structures, he served as secretary of the party’s Elders Council and as a lecturer at the Swapo Party School.
During the liberation struggle, Hishoono also played a role in education, particularly in coordinating the schooling of Namibian students in Cuba.
He oversaw Swapo’s school on the Isle of Youth, where he focused on student welfare, discipline and political education.
Hishoono died in Ondangwa on 14 January. He was accorded a state funeral by Nandi-Ndaitwah and was laid to rest at the Eenhana Memorial Shrine on Saturday.
