Personal Recollections with the Founding Father Dr Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma: the last man standing

Although, in my capacity as the senior special assistant to the founding president, I was kept abreast of his condition, one is never prepared to hear the sad news of the death of a person who is close to our hearts. More so, if such a person is of the calibre of the founding president and father of the Namibian nation, His Excellency Dr Sam Nujoma.

The first time I met the founding president in person was in 1979 after the Cassinga massacre on 4 May 1978. I was part of those who were selected to go and study Spanish before going to Cuba. So we opened the N’dalatando Centre, an old coffee station and barracks close to the town of Cazengo, in the Cuanza Norte province. That is where I met the founding president for the first time, after he attended the enlarged Swapo central committee meeting in Kwanza-Sul province, in Angola.

When all other central committee members went back to their workstations, the founding president decided to remain behind with us, spending the weekend with his children to enjoy a soccer match. As I was the pioneer assigned to receive him with a scarf and a speech, he picked me up and put me on his lap. I was between eleven and twelve years old. He then asked me what I wanted to become when I grew up. I told him I wanted to become a scientist. He was very happy with the answer, but little did I know that he truly wanted Namibian children to study science in order to become doctors, engineers, agriculturalists, geologists, etc. Fortunately, I managed to study political science apart from international relations when I was studying law.

After completing my secondary education in Cuba and going to France for my tertiary education, I spent some time in the West Indies, home to pan-Africanists such as Marcus Garvey, Henry Sylvester Williams, George Padmore and Walter Rodney – influential figures in pan-Africanism. The last two were based in Africa, with George Padmore working with Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana while Walter Rodney worked with Mwalimu Julius Nyerere in Tanzania. My pan-Africanist friends in the West Indies said to me, “Shipale, when you go back home to Africa, please take good care of our brother Sam Nujoma”. This was after I gobbled up a number of books and was burning the midnight oil, staying up late at night reading all kinds of books on pan-Africanism.

Fast forward – I had this unusual dream where I saw founding president Nujoma followed by a sea of people waving Swapo flags. On the other side, there was a platoon of soldiers marching and saluting. I wanted to see who the soldiers were saluting and realized that they were saluting the late Hidipo Hamutenya. In the middle of the two groups was former prime minister Nahas Angula sitting on top of a house without a roof. He said to me, “Shipale, let’s build before the heavy storms arrive.”

It took me nearly five years to interpret the dream, until it started to unfold right before our eyes in 2004 on the occasion of the Swapo extraordinary congress, which was described as a defining moment in our country’s recent political life. Swapo nominated three candidates to contest for the presidential position, namely former president Hifikepunye Pohamba, the late Hidipo Hamutenya and the current chairperson of the Sam Nujoma Foundation, Nahas Angula. I then remember writing an article with the title “Let’s build”. We all know that the founding president loved to read newspapers and consistently followed the news.

Then I had another unusual dream where I saw former president Pohamba calling me to come and work in the Office of the President. When the founding president read my article, he immediately called the former information minister Joel Kaapanda to find out who I was. This is how the founding president called me to his office to become his speech writer.

I therefore concur with those who are saying that founding president Nujoma always had an eagle eye, as a visionary leader with foresight, in identifying people with potential through his talent-spotting model. I agree with those saying that he was indeed our father-figure, as he then started to groom me. Thus, he was not only an eagle that could carry someone under its wings, but also a bull that could take care of you, as well as a mighty lion – the king of the jungle.

In terms of my personal recollections when I used to work with the founding father, I vividly remember when one day I wrote him a statement. The founding president asked me if my supervisor had seen the statement before I handed it over to him. I started scratching my head, as I knew that the speech did not go through my supervisor. He then said to me, “Always make sure that you go through the right channels and follow procedures. What if tomorrow you take over this office, will you not expect your subordinates to follow orders?”

I also remember a day when I drafted his statement and wrote his name as Dr Sam Nujoma. The founding president immediately corrected me saying, “Comrade Shipale, why should I use the title Dr? Do you want people to say that Nujoma is there using the title Dr?”

He also suggested that I remove the title ‘Founding Father’. But here I was unyielding and inflexible, knowing that I was right. I told him that the title ‘Founding Father’ was from an act of parliament (Act 16 of 2005), which conferred on him the status of founding father of the Namibian nation, as the first president of Namibia. I then suggested he use the title ‘Founding President’ instead. This is how I started his speeches with “His Excellency Dr Sam Nujoma, Founding President and Father of the Namibian Nation”.

On another occasion, I remember he called me to his farm and informed me that he wanted to appoint me as his senior special assistant because my supervisor was going to retire. I took that as a direct order from my boss, and thanked him for the trust he placed on me.

He then invited me for dinner and told me that I should sleep early as we were travelling to the north the next day. Around 23h00 I was still on my laptop frantically taking notes and doing research. The founding president knocked on my door and asked me why I was not yet asleep. The next morning, around 03h00, we were on our way to the north and arrived at Oshakati around 07h00. I then realised that this is how he was raised by both his parents, when they used to wake him up early in the morning to go and herd the family cattle, or take them to the cattle post in Uukwambi area.

As far as his famous quote – “A people united, striving to achieve a common good for all members of the society, will always emerge victorious” – I remember trying to be innovative and first wrote a famous slogan that we used to recite in Cuba: “A people united, shall never be defeated”. He told me it was a good slogan but maybe we should include something about collective good. So, whenever I wrote his statements, he used to remind me: “Shipale, don’t forget to add my slogan at the end of the statement”.

The founding father was never a copycat; he always made sure he added his personal touch to something, be it a slogan or a name. He was a born leader and early signs in his childhood proved that he was destined for greatness.

I agree with former president Pohamba that the sad news of founding president Nujoma’s passing did not come as a shock, not only because I was kept informed of his condition but also because I had this strange feeling that he was preparing to depart from this earth. This happened as I was reminded of a vision I had of him waving goodbye to Utoni Nujoma, the current minister of labour, industrial relations and employment creation and his firstborn son, and me after boarding an aircraft. That is why the picture that was on the cover of The Namibian on Monday 10 February hit me so hard – it was like déjà vu.

In this regard, when the founding president took his annual holiday at Walvis Bay, accompanied by his dear wife madam Theopoldine Kovambo Nujoma, I truly had that sense of déjà vu. That is why I joined them on the aircraft, and accompanied them to the coast to make sure they arrived safely.

It was at the coast when the founding president truly conveyed his last messages to me and said, “Shipale accompanied me to the coast and we were wearing a similar dressing code of safaris. That is why, Shipale will take me into my old age. He must prepare my statement in the next ten days”. I was puzzled, only to find out that precisely ten days after his departure, the Office of the President was included in the program to pay tribute to the founding president and I must prepare a speech.

To president Nangolo Mbumba, we heard you when you said now is the time to show if we are truly Nujoma’s soldiers. Rest assured that we are here as foot soldiers of founding president Nujoma. Meekulu Ohamba, Martha Mwadinomho ya Kristian Nelumbu, we have heard you when you asked.

Let us heed the founding president’s timeless call to unity of purpose and action, as the echoes of his wisdom resound for eternity.

“A people united, striving to achieve a common good for all the members of the society, will always emerge victorious!”

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of my employer and this newspaper but solely my personal views as a citizen.

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