From the football pitch to the boardroom, and through life’s toughest fight, Titus ‘TV4’ Kunamuene has done it all. Born and raised in Windhoek, Kunamuene’s path took a turn in Grade 7 when he went to live with his uncle at Tsumeb after losing his father.
It was at Opawa Primary School where he first made his mark, not just in football but in athletics too.
On the school fields, he clashed with former Chief Santos stars Anderson Muller and Pieter Willemse (both late).
He made it to the Khomas regional under-16 team trials and was promoted to the under-18 side the following year.
But later on at Augustineum Secondary School, Kunamuene faced a choice.
“I had to choose between athletics and football, and at the end of the day, I had to give up my central defender spot for the athletics track,” he recalls.
“I played against Bimbo Tjihero and Bobby Samaria from Döbra High School; Alele Kapule from A Shipena Secondary School and Sandro de Gouveia from Walvis Bay.”
Kunamuene says the house where he stayed in Tsumeb was the parental home of former National Council parliamentarian Nico Kaiyamo, who was the driving force behind his decision to take up athletics seriously.
“Hosea (Kaiyamo) inspired to become a middle distance. He was also a very enthusiastic 800m runner from his years at Augustineum Secondary.“I first started running the 400m and 800m races at Opawa Primary, and I later also added the 1 500m when I went to work at CDM Mine and relocated to Oranjemund.”
Kunamuene says he also took a very keen interest in the relays at Augustineum and also ran the 4x400m relay with the likes of Martin Dandu, Desiderius Bafrath, and a teammate he only remembers as Sylvanus.
“We won gold at the Khomas Regional Athletics Championships in the 4x400m relay as well. That race would later become an integral part of my athletics career,” he notes.
Kunamuene continued to develop under athletics coach Malan Kruger at Augustineum, becoming a dominant force on the regional and schools middle-distance circuit.
“I joined the CDM Athletics Club and moved to Oranjemund after finishing school. There, my form skyrocketed and I transformed into a serious player in local athletics,” he says.
“I started to dominate the middle distances, including the 800m, taking advantage of my clubman and national record holder, Lazarus Kapolo’s, advancing age.”
Kunamuene beat Kapolo in the 400m at the Chamber of Mines Championships to claim gold.
“When I went to Oranjemund, I competed in the B division in my first year participating in the Chamber of Mines Championships,” he says.
“I was promoted to the A division during the next championships. I listened to Hosea’s advice that I should stay in the leading pack and outsprint in the last 200m.”
It was a statement victory for Kunamuene, who idolised the former national 800m record-holder, whose record of 1:47.85, set in 1982, was recently broken by Daniel Nghipandulwa.
The former Augustineum champion continued his sojourn in the senior division in the 400m, 800m, and 1 500m of both the national and mines meetings.
Kunamuane qualified for the Zone 6 Championships in Mauritius after a race in Bellville but did not travel with the Namibian team.
The towering athlete also tried his luck in the 4×100 relay with Edward Jaepa, Gindi Gawanab, and Clarence Titus and came out triumphant at the end.
The former CDM runners also tried the long jump at one of the championships, but finished second after Rössing Athletics Club champion Eddy Haosemab.
Kunamuene hung up his running spikes to join Civics in an athletics capacity within the football club.
His break into Namibian football came after he, together with Patrick Kauta of African Stars, was pursued by former Namibian football great Oscar ‘Silver Fox’ Mengo to join the Namibian Premier League set-up.
He was subsequently co-opted onto the Namibian Football Association (NFA) executive committee after Peter Damaseb was elected NFA president. Kunamuene had joined the NFA as a sport organiser in 1988.
The retired athlete has since married Bernadine Kunamuene, and the couple is blessed with two daughters.
“I am currently serving the NFA as operations director, and I also work as a general coordinator for the Confederation of African Football (CAF),” Kunamuene says.
“Right now, I am in charge of organising football, including all the leagues and cup competitions. I also serve as a facility inspector for CAF, as well as a trainer.”
Kunamuene completed a sport management course at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
He has inspected the stadiums at the last four African Cup of Nations tournaments, including the most recent Morocco edition.
He says although he loves his job, he travels too much, and he is absent from home for very long spells.
Today, Kunamwene isn’t just a former athlete. He is a football administrator and a proud prostate cancer survivor with a story of resilience to match his sporting legacy.
He says he is very happy with the achievement as a sport administrator, adding that he has grown tremendously, while thanking all the people who have helped him grow throughout his career.
