Toivo ya Toivo’s final farewell
NAMIBIAN independence leader Herman Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, whose struggle against his country’s South African rulers landed him on Robben Island prison for 16 years, was laid to rest at the weekend. He was 92. Ya Toivo’s flag-draped casket was driven through Windhoek on Saturday before its transfer to Heroes Acre, a burial site on the outskirts of the Namibian capital, for a state funeral.
In a speech, President Hage Geingob described Ya Toivo, who died on June 9, as a “symbol of defiance against tyranny and oppression”.
His death was reported by Namibian news outlets which said Ya Toivo died at his home in a suburb of Windhoek of a suspected heart attack.
Hundreds of people were on hand last Thursday to receive the body of the struggle icon at the Ondangwa Airport for the memorial service set to take place there on Friday afternoon. His body was flown in a military passenger air plane from Windhoek to Ondangwa, where Ya Toivo had started his political activism before his arrest in 1966 for his political activities.
His wife Vicky accompanied the body.
The memorial service took place at the Ondangwa Trade Fair Centre.
Amongst those that received Ya Toivo’s body were Oshana Regional Governor Clemens Kashuupulwa; Governor of Ohangwena, Usko Nghaamwa; and Oshikoto Regional Governor Henock Kankoshi.
Minister of Safety and Security, retired Major-General Charles Namoloh, former defence minister Nahas Angula and several war veterans of the liberation struggle were also present.
At the memorial service, former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe said Ya Toivo ranked among the pantheon of this generation’s most venerated leaders.
“The life of Comrade Herman Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo exemplifies the oft-quoted ideal that asks that we ‘lead by example’,” he said.
Born at the Omangundu village in the Onyaanya District of the Oshikoto Region, Ya Toivo was an anti-apartheid activist, politician and political prisoner who was active in the pre-independence movement.
He was a co-founder of the South West African People’s Organisation (Swapo) in 1960, and its predecessor, the Ovamboland People’s Organisation in 1959.
Ya Toivo served 16 years in prison on Robben Island in the same section as Nelson Mandela.
He was released from prison in 1984 and rejoined Swapo in exile in Lusaka, Zambia, before returning to Namibia in 1989 where he served as a Member of Parliament and cabinet minister until 2006 when he retired from active politics.
A modern business complex named after Ya Toivo was constructed five years ago on the spot where his house and several cuca shops he owned were situated in the central business district of town.
A street and a senior secondary school at Ondangwa are also named after him.