WINDHOEK – Namibia’s liberation icon Ludwig Kanduketu Stanley will be buried at Good Hope, Xanages district, Botswana this coming Saturday.
A memorial service will be held for Stanley who died at the age of 85 on Tuesday in a Windhoek hospital after battling with a stroke he suffered on July 31 this year in Botswana.
He was airlifted to Windhoek on August 1 under the care of a Namibian physician.
Stanley, a recognised and registered veteran of the Namibian liberation struggle was hospitalised under the care of the Namibian government.
Stanley’s nephew, Ruvara Katjiteo, who spoke on behalf of the family confirmed the burial and memorial service to New Era over the weekend.
Stanley, whose paternal grandfather was English was born on January 8 1928 in Windhoek. He grew up in Onbujonumbonde in the Okakarara constituency. Stanley gave founding president Sam Nujoma a lift out of the country when he sought refuge from the colonial authorities in then South West Africa in 1960.
At the age of 15, he followed his father who left for Botswana but returned to Namibia to join the late Chief Hosea Kutako’s council as a messenger.
Stanley’s role in assisting Nujoma to escape into exile put him on the apartheid police’s most wanted list.
By Alvine Kapitako