Ondangwa: Immanuel Nashinge, the leader of the official opposition, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), in the National Assembly, has called on Namibians to honour the country's liberation icons through action rather than mere symbolism. Delivering his tribute at the memorial service of liberation struggle veteran Mathias Kanana Hishoono at Onambutu on Friday, Nashinge emphasized that liberation struggle heroes should be honoured through economic justice, unity, and care for the most vulnerable, cautioning against reducing the liberation legacy to symbolic remembrance.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Nashinge stated that the liberation struggle was built on the pillars of freedom, solidarity, and justice, arguing that true freedom remains incomplete without economic emancipation. Hishoono was one of the founding members of the Ovamboland People's Organisation (OPO) through which Namibians started agitating for freedom. The OPO later evolved into the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo).

Nashinge was among the national leaders who paid their final respects to Hishoono at his residence in Onambutu village in the Eenhana Constituency of the Ohangwena region. Reflecting on the sacrifices of departed liberation veterans, including those who fought inside and outside the country from the early 1960s, Nashinge noted that independence imposed a responsibility on present generations to act decisively against poverty, hunger, and inequality.

He stated, 'We must honour our heroes by demonstrating we care and serve the sick and the elderly. Only when we have given our youth and women a reason to live on shall we have honoured our heroes. We shall then live by the ideals from which they derived the courage that carried them through the bitter struggle in the refugee camps and in foreign countries which offered us solidarity, such as Cuba.'

Nashinge further called for national unity in confronting economic challenges, saying fragmentation would undermine the struggle for economic independence. 'It is us, Namibians, united, that must march together to achieve economic independence. Only when we are united as a nation shall we defeat poverty and hunger,' he said.

Hishoono passed away in hospital in Ondangwa at the age of 89. He is survived by his widow, Ndeshipewa Elina Hishoono, seven children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Source: Namibia Press Agency