Staff Reporter
PROMINENT educationalist, the 72-year-old owner of a private school in Ongwediva and former commander in the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), Juuso Panduleni Shikongo, who passed away at a hospital in Ondangwa on 27 January, will be laid to rest at his home village of Okambala in the Omuntele area of Oshikoto on Saturday.
Shikongo, whose father, Reverend Juuso Shikongo, was the namesake of a senior secondary school at Omuntele, was the commander of PLAN’s historic Onalumono base, which was attacked by SADF special forces during Operation Kropduif in October 1977. He was seriously wounded during the attack and subsequently evacuated.
He was later detained by SWAPO and freed only in 1989 as part of the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435.
After independence, he became a school principal and eventually established — together with his late wife — the Nekulilo Omagano Memorial School in Ongwediva.
Former PLAN combatant Joseph Amadhila described Shikongo as friendly to all and a man of few words.
Shikongo’s brother, Hophni, said that Saturday’s funeral service will be preceded by two memorial services at his residence. The first will take place on Thursday and will be attended mostly by members of the local community, while the second will take place on Friday and will be attended by mourners from across the country and beyond.
