WINDHOEK – An analysis of the various eulogies on the life and political achievements of Gideon Kazondunge highlight the fact that he was not only a Swapo stalwart in the fight against the South African apartheid regime. His legacy also extends beyond the realm of politics to community activism and entrepreneurship. This is specifically well captured in the eulogy penned by the Founding Father of the Nation Dr Sam Nujoma that was prepared for the occasion of Kazondunge’s burial. In that eulogy Nujoma noted that despite Kazondunge’s commitment to the liberation struggle, he was also an “effective community leader, a successful businessman, a friend to all he lived with and a man who suffered tremendously for what he believed in, namely the freedom and independence of Namibia.”
Kazondunge was born in 1953 at Otjongombe village in the present day Otjozondjupa Region. Details with regard to his early childhood education are rather sketchy in the existing biographical materials on his life. However, he is noted to have been one of the Namibian youths who stood firm against the apartheid administration in Namibia. Collections on his life point out that, in spite of the brutal efforts of the colonial administration through torture and imprisonment in order to silence voices agitating for freedom and independence, this did not deter the likes of Kazondunge to continue fighting for the liberation of his beloved motherland. It is with reference to this that the eulogy by Dr Nujoma reads that although Kazondunge had to endure social isolation, torture as well as boycotts of his businesses, because of his involvement in liberation struggle activities, this did not deter him from involving himself in progressive liberation struggle politics. Perhaps owing to his commitment to the liberation of his motherland, a report on his death compiled by Mbeuta Ua-Ndjarakana and published in Namibia Today on the 27th September in 1991 cites that Kazondunge left the country in his youthful years to join the liberation struggle in exile.
While in exile, he first started to work as a mechanic at a Swapo garage in Lusaka, Zambia and thereafter he was sent to the former Soviet Union to further his technical skills. There, he obtained a Master’s degree in Machine Shop Training. Upon completing his studies, he returned to Zambia to impart the skills he acquired to his fellow freedom fighters in exile. He started to work as an instructor at the United Nations Vocational Training College (UNVTC) in Angola. He worked there until he was appointed as both the head of the Machine Shop and as an instructor in the auto-mechanic workshop in 1981. Following the implementation of United Nations (UN) Resolution 435, which called for UN supervised elections in Namibia, Kazondunge together with a group of his students and staff returned to Namibia in order to participate in the 1989/1990 national independence elections. However, he did not live long enough to enjoy the peace and independence he helped to bring about. Since his return he had been in and out of hospital until his demise in 1991.