The Namibia Airports Company (NAC) has announced that a statue of late liberation struggle hero Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo will be unveiled on Friday at the Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo Airport in Ondangwa.

The unveiling of the statue follows the renaming of the Ondangwa Airport in his honour in August 2019.

According to a press release issued by NAC on Thursday, the airport boasts a new terminal building inaugurated in 2015 by President Hage Geingob.

It stated that Ya Toivo was a founding member of the South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) and its predecessor, the Ovamboland People’s Organisation (OPO), among many other historic achievements.

Ya Toivo committed himself to building a democratic Namibia after his release from Robben Island in 1984, serving as secretary general of SWAPO and in various ministerial portfolios in government.

Ya Toivo died in 2017 after retiring from politics in 2006.

“The event will be attended by approximately 150 people, including Ya Toivo’s widow Vicki Ya Toivo and family, members of the Namibia Former Robben Island Prisoners Trust, and other leaders. Members of the public are encouraged to watch the ceremony live on NBC TV and Facebook starting at 09h00 to avoid crowding at the airport during the heatwave that the Namibia Meteorological Service predicts will last for several days in northern Namibia,” NAC said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency