Staff Reporter
Namibians yesterday expressed utter shock following news that former minister of youth and sport Kazenambo Kazenambo has passed on in a Windhoek hospital. He was 58 years old. Social media was abuzz with favourite KK moments in and out of public life. A family member has confirmed that the outspoken former Cabinet minister and businessman battled Covid-19 for weeks.
The staunch Swapo member became deputy minister of local and regional government until 2010, and as minister of youth and sport until 2012. He was a member of the party’s politburo. Kazenambo was born in Maun, Botswana, the son of Namibian refugees. He joined Swapo in 1979, at the age of 16. Five years later, he travelled to Angola, where he received military training.
In 1986, he joined Swapo’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (Plan) as a combatant. He also worked as a journalist for the Namibia Press Agency (Nampa) and the Voice of Namibia radio programme. After independence he worked for Namibia Today, the official mouthpiece of Swapo. In recent years, Kazenambo became an outspoken agitator for reparations for the descendants of the Nama-Herero genocide.
He was brutal in his assessment of a deal between the governments of Namibia and Germany and rejected it outright. Kazenambo was a successful businessman who had interest in property, retail, construction and media.