SIMON Hafeni Kaukungwa, affectionately known as Mzee, which means an elder person in Swahili, was born at Ohalushu village in the Ohangwena Region.
He was the third child of Reverend Nghishidubi Nghoshi Sam Noah Kaukungwa ka-Shangheta and Hifikepunye Rebecca
During his childhood Simon Hafeni Kaukungwa grew up in Ohalushu village in the Ohangwena, where he attended primary school at a missionary school between 1923 and 1938. He later continued with his studies at Ongwediva Training College in 1939.
During the Second World War he joined the military police of the Union Defence Force where he served with iconic politician Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, and served in countries such as Ethiopia and Egypt.
He worked as a contract labourer at a Roman Catholic mission station in Windhoek.
In 1946 he joined the SWA railway police in Port Elizabeth where he met and married his first wife, Leena Williams, who was a musician in Miriam Makeba’s band in 1948.
Due to his heavy responsibilities as a policeman, his wife left him, which resulted in the end of his first marriage.
He later resigned as a railway police officer and became a businessman at Ohalushu.
Kaukungwa played a major role in liberating the country. He was one of the founding members of the Ovamboland People’s Organisation (OPO) in 1959, and later in 1960 became a founding member of Swapo. He became a Swapo mobiliser in the north, together with Eliaser Tuhadeleni, Toivo ya Toivo and current President Hifikepunye Pohamba who together led protest marches against repressive traditional leaders. This led to Kaukungwa and Pohamba to go into hiding to avoid arrest and later in 1964 they fled the country together to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
While in exile Kaukungwa was given the responsibility of informing the exiled Swapo leadership about the situation back home and included a recommendation to take up arms against the repressive colonial authorities.
Kaukungwa was one of the first Namibians to receive military training in China and held several positions in the Swapo liberation movement, including being the first political commissar of the armed wing and was the head of training Swapo’s combatants in Tanzania.
Later he became the first secretary of the then newly-formed Swapo Elders’ Council in 1970, the post he held until 1992.
Kaukungwa held various positions in Swapo until his retirement; one of them was as special adviser to the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration in 2005.
During the commemoration of Heroes’ Day at Eenhana in 2007, Kaukungwa was one of the 95 pioneer freedom fighters who were given honorary military ranks by President Pohamba.
Many people have described him as a pillar of the family and a dedicated Christian who once wanted to pursue a career in pastoral ministry.
During his funeral the secretary general of Swapo Nangolo Mbumba said Kaukungwa played a major role in the liberation struggle, both inside and outside the country.
He said he is one of the leading figures in the history of the liberation struggle.
In a moving tribute President Pohamba at Parliament Gardens described Kaukungwa as a brave soldier and Namibian hero.
At his memorial Pohamba said each generation produces remarkable leaders and towering giants and that each generation brings forth individuals who possess outstanding characteristics of virtue, bravery, fearlessness, humility and magnanimity and that Kaukungwa was an epitome of these remarkable virtues.
He died aged 94 at Ongwediva MediClinic on Monday, September 01 2014.