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Footprints of Hifikepunya Pohamba- Ondjila Eyia Enda autobiography launched

Footprints of Hifikepunya Pohamba- Ondjila Eyia Enda autobiography launched

Zorena Jantze

DR. Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba, today launched his autobiography, titled “Footprints of Hifikepunye Pohamba – Ondjila Eyia Enda”, a memoir which digs into the former President’s birth in Okanghudi village in 1935, and his witness to the denigration of his fellow Namibians during the days of colonialism, mostly under South African rule.

At the launch, which was held in the capital on 30 September 2024, Dr. Pohamba said that a project of this magnitude is an arduous task that has spanned several years.

“Yes, what appeared to be a mission impossible at first when the project was conceived, is today being realised, I owe a ton of gratitude to Prof. Ndeshi Namhila, the author, and a host of other individuals and organisations whose enormous contributions and collaboration brought this project to fruition. Giving an account of one’s life journey is a complex undertaking that often invokes a mixed brew of emotions. Emotions that took me through a nostalgic recollection of pleasant and enduring encounters, to the therapeutic reflections of distressing, humiliating and unpalatable,” Dr. Pohamba said.

PICTURED: Dr. Hifikepunye Pohamba.

In an interview with NBC Digital news, Dr. Pohamba reflected upon his journey in the contract labour system, and working for Tsumeb Corporation Limited (TCL).

“Unfortunately the British came with church people, the Anglican, they came bringing church after having killed our king, our people, and after having divided our country. The northern part was divided after Mandume’s death. I was brought up having to do something. We did not have equipment to protect and defend our country. I went to work in TCL. In that office where I worked, it was in the compound. The building is outside, you could see people through the window, I got angry, seeing young people, especially from the North and Kavango regions today, children that came there, to see if they could see their relatives who were working in the compound. Children came there very hungry, children came there with unkempt hair, and you wondered how they travelled from the farm, where they were working to come to Tsumeb. Children were tired and hungry. We were better off, as we worked in the compound, there was a kitchen where workers got food. We went there to get food for these children who were hungry. That made my anger more, against the white people. Those children, when they were picked up by police, they were kicked, their hair was pulled, and they were pushed into police vehicles, I could not know what happened to these children. Did they go back to the farms? Did they at all make it home? I did not know. But I had suspicions that some were killed, if they were sent back to the farm, they could even be killed by the South African police,” Dr. Pohamba reflected, snippets of the book.

Dr. Pohamba said that he was inspired to write the autobiography to contribute to the discourse of our struggle for nationhood and the steady progress made in the development of our nation state has never diminished.

“I was indeed emboldened by the readiness of many individuals, and associates who were keen to shepherd me in this journey. The sustained encouragement and support provided, fuelled my desire to see this project to its logical conclusion as we are witnessing here today. Yes, there are intrinsic benefits inherent in documenting one’s life journey. Key of these is the authenticity and credibility of the outcomes. Reliance on third-party accounts, though unavoidable at times, is greatly minimised,” Dr. Pohamba said.

He added that publications of this kind are valuable additions to the existing reservoirs of knowledge and information on the history of the liberation struggle and the genesis of the development path of our country.

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