Peter Eneas Nanyemba was born in 1935 and grew up in Owamboland in the northern part of Namibia and like any other young African boy he had to work as a cattle herder during his school years.
Nanyemba was a Namibian freedom fighter and Commander of Swapo’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). He joined the Ovamboland People’s Organization (OPO) in 1958 in Walvis Bay.
While working in Walvis Bay, Nanyemba became aware of the harshness of the colonial and apartheid system, and saw a need to do something about it.
He was inspired and encouraged by many who shared his vision of a free and independent Namibia.
When Swapo was formed in 1960, he became one of its leading activists and was later elected as its secretary for the Walvis Bay branch where he started with mobilizing people and urged them to join Swapo.
As a result, he was arrested in 1961, detained, and deported back to the northern part of Namibia.
This did not prevent Nanyemba from continuing with his anti-colonial campaigns and mobilization of the masses of the people to resist colonial authority, suppression and economic exploitation.
In 1962, Nanyemba left Namibia and went abroad to participate in the anti-apartheid movement where he served as Chief Representative for Swapo during 1963 in Botswana. He then moved to Tanzania to become Swapo Chief Representative from 1964 to 1969 in that country.
While in Tanzania he was elected as the Swapo Secretary of Defence during the TANGA Consultative Conference in the 1970s until his death in 1983.
Though he didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy the hard fought freedom Nanyemba will be remembered and honoured for his bravery.
In a tribute in 2000 by Charles Namoloh the Minister of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, Nanyemba was described as a “gallant son of the Land of the Brave, who selflessly contributed to the liberation struggle”.
He also indicated that Nanyemba was involved in arranging training and equipment for PLAN – the military wing of Swapo.
Nanyemba’s life was cut short on the 1st of April 1983 when he was killed in a car accident in Lubango, in Angola’s Huila Province.
The remains of Eneas Peter Nanyemba were repatriated from Angola 31 years after his death along with the remains of four other combatants – Walde Homateni Kaluenja, Isak Shikongo, Natalia Ndahambelela Shikangala Mavulu and Augustus Nghaamwa.