As fate would have it, Sheehama passed on, on 05th and Kaujeua Junior on 07th September 2025. Death is by definition a ‘deconstruction,’ so how could we talk of ‘reconstruction’ through the death of these two prominent Namibian musicians? Both of them were ‘exile kids’ and their music was, to a large extent, shaped by that experience. I cannot claim to have known any of these two musicians at a personal level, therefore this is not a tribute to either men. 

Last Sunday, the celebrated Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was interviewed on CNN and she said something very interesting, namely: “I have always been moved by the possibility of human connection.” As a social cohesion activist, that has always been my motivation. My attempt to ‘reconstruct’ the lives of our two departed musicians must be understood against that backdrop. By ‘reconstruction,’ in this particular context, I mean trying to draw different ‘pieces’ from their lives to build a better Namibia. 

For example, I do not think it is enough to say Ras Sheehama was the king of reggae music in Namibia, which he obviously was, without saying where and how that particular genre of music originated. Reggae music originated in Jamaica in the late sixties and one of its prominent figures was the iconic Bob Marley. Reggae is rooted in the history and struggles of the black race from Africa, the Caribbean, the US etc. The legacy of Ras Sheehama must therefore be appreciated in that broad context. 

Kaujeua Junior’s genre of music can be described as deep house/afro remixes with a focus on Namibian cultural identity. 

While guarding at the risk ‘pushing’ him too much into his father’s shadow; you could not ignore the impact his father’s music had on him. Kaujeua Junior took over the music mantle from his late father. 

Jackson Kaujeua Senior’s voice echoed across Africa and Europe as he was drumming up support for our independence struggle during the darkest hour of our history. Equally, his music was shaped by the historical events of that time, i.e. the struggle for independence. In his music, he could easily shuttle between Otjiherero, Khoekhoe, and Oshiwambo. 

Although Kaujeua Senior’s home language was Otjiherero, he grew up in the South where he learnt to speak Nama. He was part of the Ovaherero community that was forcefully uprooted from the South by the Apartheid colonial system and taken to Otjinene Constituency in the sixties; in accordance with the then Bantustan/Odendaal policy. He later picked up Oshikwanyama in the SWAPO camps, because that was the lingua franca there. 

As the mortal remains of Jackson Kaujeua Junior arrived at Hosea Kutako International Airport a few days ago, one of the people who received the remains and who was also interviewed, was Ngatu Nganyone. He emotionally narrated how the two of them used to share the stage as musicians. However, the story of these two musicians has a very interesting twist. 

Apart from the fact that they were both musicians, both of them were born to Ovaherero fathers and Aawambo mothers. Ngatu Nganyone’s father was none other than the late Kokauru Nganyone, who in the seventies served as the Peoples’ Liberation Army of Namibia’s Regional Chief Political Commissar at was then known as the Eastern Front between Zambia and Namibia. He later served as the first Chief Regional Officer for Kunene Region after independence in 1990. 

I was reliably informed that as the Nganjone children were growing up, they would speak Oshikwanyama to their mother and Otjiherero to their father, in equal measure. I would like to believe that Jackson Kaujeua Junior was equally at home in both languages. 

As Jackson Kaujeua Junior’s mortal remains arrived at the airport, a lady in the traditional Ovaherero dress was shown on NBC TV weeping uncontrollably, I believe that she was a close relative from his father’s side. Shortly after that, a young man from his Oshiwambo side of the family, announced the funeral arrangements. Could the Namibian story get more exciting than that? 

May the ‘battle cries’ of both Sheehama and Kaujeua Junior reach a few receptive ears. 

-Gerson Uaripi Tjihenuna is a Commissioner of Elections. The views expressed here are his own and not those of ECN.