Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is currently on an official visit to Tanzania, paid tribute to fallen freedom fighters at a memorial site in Kongwa, where eleven fighters from Southern African liberation movements are buried.
As part of her State Visit to Tanzania, the President laid wreaths at the graves of three Namibians — Helena Amshira, Ismael Haindongo and Gabriel Shipa — in honour of their sacrifice. She also visited Kongwa Military Camp, SWAPO’s first major training and operational base after Tanzania allocated it to the OAU Liberation Committee in 1964.
“Kongwa is part of our history,” President Nandi-Ndaitwah said. “This is where our fighters were trained and where the foundation for Namibia’s independence was laid.”
Photos: Namibian Presidency
The camp hosted fighters from the liberation movements of Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
During the tour, the President viewed the dormitory once occupied by Namibia’s Founding President Sam Nujoma and other cadres.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah lived and worked in Tanzania during the liberation struggle, serving as SWAPO’s chief representative in East Africa from 1980 to 1986.
Following the visit to Kongwa, the President travelled to Dodoma, where she inspected a plot of land donated by the Government of Tanzania for Namibia’s future diplomatic mission.
To mark the occasion, she planted a symbolic tree named “Umoja”, the Kiswahili word for “Unity”, reflecting the relationship between the two countries.
The visits to Kongwa and Dodoma underscore the historical ties forged during the liberation struggle and ongoing cooperation between Namibia and Tanzania, the Presidency said.
