President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has called on Namibians to safeguard the country’s hard-won independence and preserve the legacy of those who sacrificed their lives during the liberation struggle.
The President made the call on Monday during a solemn reburial ceremony at Heroes’ Acre outside Windhoek, where the remains of six liberation struggle heroes were officially reinterred. The ceremony was attended by government officials, military veterans, traditional leaders and relatives of the deceased, who gathered to honour the men and women who made sacrifices for Namibia’s independence.
Nandi-Ndaitwah described the reburial as an act of restorative justice that restores dignity and recognition to those who gave their lives for the country. “Reinterment is not just the movement of human remains from one place to another. It is the restoration of dignity,” she said. The ceremony followed Namibia’s receipt last Friday of 84 ancestral human remains that had been held at the Iziko Museum in South Africa. The remains, whose identities and histories were disrupted during the colonial period, are to be preserved at the National Museum.
The President said colonialism subjected many freedom fighters to imprisonment, displacement and death, with some buried in unmarked graves or separated from their families and homeland for decades. She said the return of the remains represents a reunion of the fallen with the land and people for whom they sacrificed, while also strengthening Namibia’s national memory, identity and reconciliation.
Nandi-Ndaitwah further urged schools, universities, museums, archives, cultural institutions and the media to play a greater role in preserving and teaching the history of Namibia’s liberation struggle to younger generations. “A nation that forgets the price of its freedom risks taking that freedom for granted,” she warned.
The President said the greatest tribute to those who died for Namibia’s freedom should be the continued building of a country where citizens live with dignity, opportunities are expanded, poverty is reduced, justice is protected and national unity remains strong.
The reburial ceremony formed part of activities ahead of Heroes’ Day, which Namibia observes annually on 26 August. The day commemorates the Battle of Omugulugwombashe on 26 August 1966, regarded as the beginning of Namibia’s armed struggle against South African colonial occupation and apartheid rule.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has commenced the conferment of more than 1 000 Liberation and Independence Medals on Namibians who made significant contributions to the country’s liberation struggle and independence.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has conferred Liberation Bronze Medals on about 800 Namibians at today’s Investiture Ceremony at Independence Stadium, in recognition of their sacrifices and contributions to Namibia’s liberation struggle.
The President is yet to confer Independence Silver Medals on about 200 recipients.
Namibia is today holding its Investiture Ceremony, with President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah conferring national honours on individuals recognised for their contributions to the country’s liberation, development, peace and nation-building.
By Rudi Bowe
