By: Annakleta Haikera

A 71-year-old veteran of the liberation struggle and one of the long-serving civil servants, Siwombe Gideon Nestor Mufenda, was laid to rest on Saturday.

Mufenda was buried at Nkurenkuru, where he grew up in the outskirts of the Kavango West.

He is well-known for his activism during the colonial regime when he was arrested several times in Rundu.

Mufenda was also one of the long-serving financial executives in the Kavango Regional Council until he retired 11 years ago.

He did his tertiary education in South Africa.

Those who knew him said he was calm, kind, and had integrity. They also said he was disciplined, selfless, God-fearing and down to earth.

He was involved in many Swapo activities as an activist during the racist apartheid regime in the Kavango area.

Mufenda assisted Swapo’s People Liberation Army of Namibia, for which the apartheid regime detained him.

Former Chairperson of the Kavango West Region Farmers Union, and also former secretary for Land and Farming Committee in Ukwangali Traditional Authority, Oiva Haipumbu Mahina, described Mufenda as a thriving prominent farmer when it comes to cattle farming and also a brave man that transformed the financial books of the Ukwangali Traditional Authority.

He then had this to say, “I met the late Mufenda in 1999 at the Ukwangali Traditional Authority when he was elected as Treasurer for the Financial Advisory Committee to the Authority and myself being the Secretary for the Land and Farming Committee in the Ukwangali Traditional Authority.

2003/2004 farmers in Ukwangali were informed to develop their farming units or lose them. The late Mufenda was among the farmers who responded positively and drilled his borehole.

In 2010/2011, when he retired, he stocked his farm with livestock reaching the land carrying capacity.

Since then, he has been a successful farmer, marketing his products at all traditional markets, Meatco and others.

He is an excellent example to many who want to farm outside the region. All the farmers in the Kavango Region will remember his wonderful work,” he said.

His wife and four children survive the late Mufenda.