Burried in the names Munikore (the gatherer) and Mutumbe (the wealth creator) is a profound message from the late Kazenambo Kazenambo to the world that: ‘Tjomukuno otjimokondo [you reap what you sow].’

Munikore is Kazenambo’s eldest son while his younger brother is Mutumbe.

They tell Nampa that their father was a hardworking, firm, loving, straightforward, caring and honest man.

At the heart of Kazenambo’s message that will linger in the minds of his two sons for a long time is that ‘work hard, for it is through your labour that you will eat’.

‘He was a very strict man. He really loved us. He taught us how to be men. He never spoiled us with gifts such as cellphones and other things. He taught us the importance of life,’ Mutumbe recalls.

Mutumbe is in Grade 9.

Asked whether he has political ambitions, he retorts: ‘I want to be a businessman like him.’

Munikore is a character on his own when juxtaposed with his younger brother but their similarities, both physical and spoken are quite evident.

‘He wanted us to suffer so that we can know the value of something. You must sweat for something,’ the harvester reminisced.

‘What I can say is that his [Kazenambo’s] golden heart stopped beating. His hardworking hands are now at rest. God broke our hearts to show us that he only takes the best. Rest in peace dad,’ the gatherer said in a rather sombre tone.

Kazenambo is a former Cabinet minister, ex-soldier and journalist. His combat name was ‘Mandela’ Kazenambo’s.

Affectionately known as ‘KK’, his remains were interred at farm Okapuka, some few kilometres outside Windhoek on Saturday.

Kazenambo died on 17 August after a long battle with the novel coronavirus. He was 58.

The funeral was attended by Vice President Nangolo Mbumba who represented President Hage Geingob, official opposition leader McHenry Venaani, higher education minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi, governors James Uerikua [Otjozondjupa] and Laura McLeod-Katjirua [Khomas] and former Windhoek mayor Muesee Kazapua and ex-Cabinet minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa among other dignitaries.

It was a sombre moment as pain could be seen on the faces of those who conglomerated to pay their last respect to a man described by many orators as straightforward, upright and unapologetic.

As the casket descendent into the ground, Kazenambo was honoured with a 17- gun salute by the Namibian Defence Force.

For Venaani, Kazenambo was a mirror. What you saw is what you got.

He recalls that Kazenambo was a proponent of equality and a trailblazer who reminded Namibians that ‘this country belongs to all of us’.

‘For the conversation to take place in the ruling Party for a non-Oshiwambo president, we can only credit Kazenambo. Not that the candidate that emerged did not have quality. But Kazenambo was a trailblazer in ensuring that a non-Oshiwambo president emerges [in Swapo],’ Venaani said.

Kazenambo was a nationalist who placed Namibia’s interest ahead of his own, sometimes at the expense of his own political or economic survival.

‘Ndjesa mbikarye ozongaru [it is fine for me to go back home and eat wild berries instead of being quiet for that which I don’t believe’, Kazenambo would say regularly when confronted.

Venaani went on: ‘He led the debate on anti-tribalism in the country. He led the battle of the genocide in many ways to be an affront to what the descendants should receive. Kazenambo was a leader who kept in tune with society. He was a person who always rises when society needs a leader.’

Source: Namibia Press Agency