Placido Hilukilwa
BRIGADIER-GENERAL (retired) Yapuleni Leonard Uulenga, who passed away in a Windhoek hospital on 21 February at the age of 66, will be buried at Omugulugombashe memorial shrine in the Omusati Region on Monday. It will be a State Funeral.
The memorial service will take place at his traditional homestead in the Onkani village on Sunday.
Also known as Holo, Uulenga was 20-years old when he left the country in 1975 to join the armed liberation struggle where he went on to occupy various commanding positions in the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN).
DEPARTED SOLDIERS: The funeral service of the late Colonel George Kaxuxwena (in civilian clothing) and the late Brigadier-General Yapuleni Leonard Uulenga (in uniform) whose funeral service will be conducted on Monday. – Photos: Contributed 
DEPARTED SOLDIERS: The funeral service of the late Colonel George Kaxuxwena (in civilian clothing) and the late Brigadier-General Yapuleni Leonard Uulenga (in uniform) whose funeral service will be conducted on Monday. – Photos: Contributed 
DEPARTED SOLDIERS: The funeral service of the late Colonel George Kaxuxwena (in civilian clothing) and the late Brigadier-General Yapuleni Leonard Uulenga (in uniform) whose funeral service will be conducted on Monday. – Photos: Contributed 
DEPARTED SOLDIERS: The funeral service of the late Colonel George Kaxuxwena (in civilian clothing) and the late Brigadier-General Yapuleni Leonard Uulenga (in uniform) whose funeral service will be conducted on Monday. – Photos: Contributed
Holo Uulenga was one of the small unit commanders who in the late 1970s were very much active in the North-Eastern front under Commander Matias Ndakolo Mbulunganga and his exploits in the war zone were narrated in books written by direct participants on the SADF side.
“I left the country together with Leake Hangala in 1974, immediately followed by the group that included Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Holo and others followed us a year later,” said Ben Ulenga, Holo’s elder brother.
When Namibia attained Independence, Holo joined the Namibia Defence Force (NDF) and progressively rose through the ranks to eventually become a general officer before going on retirement in 2015.
However, he found a new job as head of protocol and security at the Swapo national headquarters in Windhoek.
He was also a commercial farmer.
Holo Uulenga is survived by his elderly mother, seven siblings, his wife, and nine children.
His State Funeral that will be conducted at the Omugulugombashe memorial shrine on Monday comes two days after another war veteran, Colonel (retired) George Mwauvikange Kaxuxwena – who died on February 16 at the age of 63 – was laid to rest at the Eenhana memorial shrine in the Ohangwena Region today.
Kaxuxwena was the Chief Executive Officer of the 26 August Holdings, the business arm of the defense ministry.
