While some Namibians will remember Penehupifo Pohamba as the former first lady, others, like Matilde ‘Mboshono’ Kulo, will always remember her as the midwife who helped bring them into the world.
The 44-year-old, who was born in Angola, says Penehupifo first held her as a baby in 1981 at a Swapo camp in Kwanza-Sul, Angola.
There, Penehupifo worked as a midwife, a profession that would see her deliver babies in Swapo’s exile camps during the liberation struggle in Namibia and abroad.
Penehupifo, who died aged 78 at a Windhoek hospital on Saturday, is survived by her husband, former president Hifikepunye Pohamba and their five children.
Her journey into exile and her work as a midwife remain vivid memories for those who travelled alongside her and those whose lives began in her hands.
Kulo says her mother named her Mboshono after Penehupifo Kambosho.
“Growing up, I felt an immense sense of pride knowing that she was the woman who had held me in her arms at the very beginning of my life,” she told The Namibian yesterday.
Although Kulo knew of Penehupifo’s role in her birth, she only met her in person twice and could never tell her she was named after her.
Kulo’s mother, Roswina Uushona, died in 2006.
She says she is inspired by Penehupifo’s humanitarian work.
“This was a fight she pursued with remarkable commitment as a first lady, determined to ensure that no woman should lose her life while bringing another life into the world,” Kulo says.
She says she regrets not reaching out to Penehupifo sooner, while she still had the chance.
‘SHE DELIVERED MY SON’
Former ambassador Tuliameni Kalomoh is one of the parents who still recalls how Penehupifo delivered his first son Muunda Namene, in Nyango, Zambia, in 1976 at a exile Swapo camp.
They had left Namibia for exile together in September 1974, when he found Penehupifo and her first husband, Malakia Shiluwa, hiding in the bush on the Angolan side of the border.
Speaking to Desert FM yesterday, Kalomoh, a close friend of Penehupifo, said the journey was not easy.
“We travelled together first on foot, then by bus and train across Angola and then Zambia,” he said.
The journey took about a month travelling with Penehupifo’s two-year-old baby.
“Her husband and I took turns to carry the baby on our shoulders,” he said.
Penehupifo later received military training at the Kongwa Military Centre before returning to Zambia.
Kalomoh described her as a politically conscious young woman who was committed to fighting apartheid.
They were born in the same year and grew up together in northern Namibia, before travelling abroad in 1974.
“We called her Kambosho. I remember vividly when we were 14,” he said.
Kalomoh remembers her as a brilliant and hard-working student who played netball, took part in debates and was associated with student protests against apartheid.
“She hated discrimination of all kinds,” Kalomoh said.
She continued to pursue the calling even after independence and after becoming first lady in 2005.
AN ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN
Affectionately known as Kambosho or Penny, Penehupifo was a liberation-era health worker, an advocate for women and children, and a dedicated public servant whose work extended beyond State House.
Born at Okatale village in the Oshikango constituency of the Ohangwena region, she attended St Mary’s Mission School at Odibo before going into exile in 1976.
She travelled through Angola to Zambia before being sent to Tanzania for medical training.
She later spent three years studying midwifery in Jamaica before returning to Angola to provide medical care to Namibians in exile.
Penehupifo and Hifikepunye got married in Angola in 1983, 22 years before he became Namibia’s second president.
She advocated for HIV-AIDS awareness and worked with the Ministry of Health and Social Services to establish shelters for expectant mothers.
Her work also focused on reducing maternal deaths, ensuring that women had access to care during pregnancy and childbirth.
After her husband’s retirement in March 2015, the couple settled at Okanghudi village, where Hifikepunye is the headman.
Penehupifo continued helping vulnerable members of her community.
HUMBLE SERVANT
Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa remembers Penehupifo as a humble servant who remained grounded despite becoming Namibia’s first lady.
She described her death as a “painful” loss to Swapo, the liberation struggle and the nation.
Shaningwa says Penehupifo never allowed her first lady title to define her or distance her from ordinary people.
“She behaved simple,” she told Desert FM yesterday.
“She was just doing her job as a first lady, mother, and daughter of this soil.
But she was silently doing what she was supposed to do without unnecessarily showing off that she was the first lady, but a humble servant of the people,” she said.
