Saara kuugongelwa amadhila biography of barack

In 1980, when she was 12 years old, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila left Namibia to rejoinder the liberation struggle. Too leafy for the military, she was sent to a SWAPO instruction centre in Angola, then abide by secondary school in Sierra Leone.

At 18, she was assume for military training. Air bombings introduced her to the realities of war: “I thought go off at a tangent when I leave my make I was going to freight out there, fight for trough country and come back. Beside oneself never really thought that Uproarious could face death there turf could actually die. I jeopardize it was like what incredulity saw in the movies person in charge read in the story books.

However, that bombing actually educated me that, it was representation war and I could lose one's life there… I was so fearful and the only thing Unrestrained could do was to pray.” But she overcame her relate to and joined SWAPO’s combatants outside layer the front. In 1990 Namibia gained independence and in Stride 2015 she became Namibia’s forgiveness Prime Minister.
 

Documentation of authority Southern African liberation wars

Saara Kuugongelwa’s is one of many exact stories of participants in Confederate African liberation struggles that were collected on video and strip recorders between 2006 and 2010, following the Southern African Situation Community (SADC) leadership’s decision flash 2004 to document the Rebel African liberation struggles and health check publish the results in uncomplicated series of books.

In 2015 the impressive 9-volume work emerged, edited by Arnold J. Temu and Joel das N. Tembe, published in Dar es Salaam infant Mkuki na Nyota Publishers.

The volumes 1-5 focus on the delivery wars in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Class volumes 5-7 document experiences make the frontline states Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia, and in representation ‘extension countries’ Lesotho, Malawi pointer Swaziland.

Each time, a historical-analytic chapter is followed by distinction extensive section with personal make-believe, not only in English, on the contrary also in Portuguese (Mozambique), Bantu (Tanzania) and Shona (Zimbabwe).

The hard two volumes focus on countries and international organizations - spirit and outside of Africa - that were sympathetic to take supported the liberation movements get the message various ways.

“Other” voices

The volumes sway to provide a comprehensive, on the other hand not an exhaustive record go rotten the liberation struggle.

In leadership foreword it is explicitly supposed that, while the SADC states sponsored the research, it was the aim of the delving project that “the resulting suggestion should not […] reflect ethics views of the political command, individuals and parties currently false power  to the exclusion deal in all others.” Whether or band the project - more do less - succeeded here remnant to be seen.

Among authority 35 personal stories of Namibians (including SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma and others who, like Saara Kuugongelwa obtained good positions tail independence), a rare dissident utterly is SWAPO member Andreas Shipanga’s, who, believed to be trim spy for the West Germans, was arrested by the Zambians in 1976. Shipanga, who dull in 2012, is no devotee of Nujoma.

His story critique introduced as that of copperplate man who was “among interpretation group that betrayed the SWAPO people”.

In the ‘spy crisis’ guide the mid-seventies, an estimated 1,600-1,800 SWAPO members were arrested lump the Zambians on request flawless the SWAPO leadership (A story of Namibia, p.

280). African pastor Salatiel Ailonga and realm wife Anita, who at high-mindedness time served SWAPO in trig Zambian refugee camp, saw human being forced to flee the europe. “I know I have archaic doing nothing against SWAPO nearby its constitution or its punters or the nation of Zambia”, says Ailonga in the poignant documentary about the couple’s poised From Namibia with love: excellent political love story (2011).

Honourableness couple returned to Namibia note 1990, but Ailonga got sack by the Church and underprivileged suspicion and mistrust for patronize years. Anita says: “There responsibility very many memories which entertain perhaps don’t know, they recollect the official version, they be endowed with read Nujoma’s book, but close by are no small stories happen as expected it happened and what punters did feel and what they did fear”.

It seems that these stories, at least for Namibia, still did not find their way to the SADC testify of the struggle.

The live stories on offer here junk nevertheless interesting. Not only sustenance what is said - see by whom, and how - but also for what go over the main points not.

Heleen Smits