Draft:Werner Mamugwe
Werner Henry Mamugwe (1936-1998) was a Namibian politician. In the late 1950s he became a leading figure in nationalist politics and community struggles in Windhoek, and would go on to become a key leader of the South West African National Union (SWANU).
Youth
[edit]Mamugwe was born of February 7, 1936 in Windhoek, and grew up in Old Location.[1][2] As a young man, he trained boxing.[3] Mamugwe was one of very few African matriculants in South West Africa at the time.[4] He became involved in nationalist politics, and in 1957 he joined the South West Africa Progressive Association (SWAPA).[1] He became a member of the SWAPA leadership.[1] He led protests in Old Location against the forced relocation of the community to Katutura.[1][3] When the South African authorities initially refused Andimba Toivo ya Toivo permission to stay overnight at Old Location, Mamugwe convinced the pass officer to issue a temporary pass.[3] Mamugwe helped edit the newspaper South West News - Suidwes Nuus, and was a frequent contributor to Contact and New Age.[5][4]
SWANU chair, imprisonment and exile
[edit]Mamugwe took part in the founding of the South West African National Union (SWANU) in 1959.[1][2] He served as acting SWANU chairman.[1][6] Mamugwe functioned as a liaison between the exiled SWANU External Council in Francistown (Bechuanaland) and the SWANU organization inside South West Africa.[1][3] In 1962 he was banned from re-entering Bechuanaland.[1]
He went into exile in May 1965, settling in Lusaka.[1] From Lusaka he journeyed to Israel to study at the Afro-Asian Institute for Cooperative and Labour Studies (an institution set up by the Histadrut in Tel-Aviv in 1960) and receive military training.[1][7] In August 1966 he attempted to re-enter South West Africa through the Caprivi strip, but was arrested.[1] He was held and interrogated on Impalila Island for four days, then taken to Katima Mulilo where he was held in solitary confinement for three weeks.[3] On September 7, 1966 he was transferred to Pretoria Central Prison.[1] He was held for seven months without trial.[3]
Then, without explanation, the South African authorities transported Mamugwe and Kuaima Riruako to the Caprivi Strip, and left in the wilderness to fend for themselves.[3] After three days they were rescued by Zambian fishermen.[3] Mamugwe shifted to Lusaka, where he attended college.[3] He later moved to Dar-es-Salaam, and then shifted to Uganda where he enrolled at the Makerere University.[3] His studies at Makerere University were cut short by the internal turmoil in Uganda, and he shifted to Nairobi where he was eventually granted asylum status.[3] He served as the SWANU Representative in Central and East Africa, and addressed many international forums such as the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid.[3] He returned to his home country in 1977.[3]
WRP leader
[edit]On May 1, 1989 Mamugwe, Attie Beukes and Erica Beukes launched the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) at a meeting in the Khomasdal Community Hall.[2][8] Soon thereafter the WRP joined the Socialist Alliance of Namibia (SAN), with Mamugwe becoming one of two SAN acting secretaries alongside Rirua Karihangana.[9] But in August 1989 WRP joined the United Democratic Front (UDF) ahead of the 1989 Namibian parliamentary election, leaving SAN in limbo.[9]
Mamugwe died on May 25, 1998.[1] He was buried in Windhoek.[3] After Mamugwe's death Hewat Beukes took over the role as WRP political secretary.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oiva Angula. SWAPO Captive: A Comrade’s Experience of Betrayal and Torture. Penguin Random House South Africa, 2018
- ^ a b c Bolliger, Lennart. Apartheid’s Black Soldiers: Un-national Wars and Militaries in Southern Africa. Ohio University Press, 2021. p. 137
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Matthew Gowaseb. Triumph of Courage: Profiles of Namibian Political Heroes and Heroines. Legacy Publications, 2007. pp. 88-90
- ^ a b The New African, Vol. 2, Issues 1-4. 1963. p. 12
- ^ Dag Henrichsen. A Glance at Our Africa: Facsimile Reprint of Southwest News--Suidwes Nuus, 1960. Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 1997. p. 36
- ^ First, Ruth. South West Africa. Penguin Books Ltd, 1963. p. 204
- ^ Labor Developments Abroad, April-March 1964. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics., 1964. p. 2
- ^ a b Election Commission of Namibia. Spot the Difference - 3rd edition. p. 22
- ^ a b Joe Pütz, Heidi Von Egidy, Perri Caplan. Namibia Handbook and Political Who's who. Magus, 1989. pp. 78-79, 308
Category:1936 births Category:1998 deaths Category:People from Windhoek Category:Namibian politicians