I decided to shift from Windhoek to Walvis Bay, as precautionary measure. My main fear was that enemy security agents might arrest Tate Mwatotele and he would be forced to reveal my whereabouts.
A certain Paulus Thomas from Walvis Bay agreed to take me to Walvis Bay for a visit. I agreed to pay for his train ticket and food for the journey to Walvis Bay. I found Thomas quite interesting, as he disclosed to me his desire to go into exile to receive a gun, which he would use to kill the ‘Boers’.
He appeared to be an active supporter of SWAP0 and was very militant in his world view. I told him that I was in Windhoek because I had run away from harassment by Koevoet members in Ovamboland because of my involvement in liberation politics.
I told Thomas that I needed a place to stay in Walvis Bay while I looked for a job there. Thomas worked for the Railway Company in Windhoek. We left Windhoek by train on Friday morning and arrived in Walvis Bay before dusk. In Walvis Bay, Thomas took me to his uncle’s house, a certain Willem. Willem was a bachelor and lived alone. Thomas introduced me to his uncle as his friend from Windhoek, who was looking for a job.
He further told his uncle that I was a teacher sometime back but was dismissed from the teaching profession because of liberation politics. Thomas told his uncle that I needed accommodation for a few weeks while trying to find a job in Walvis Bay. The old man agreed to accommodate me indefinitely.
The only thing Willem told me was that he would take me to the municipal police to register my presence in the town as no one was allowed to stay in Walvis Bay without permission from the municipal police.
The following morning at around 08:00, Willem accompanied me to the police station to obtain a resident permit card. On arrival there, we found a very aggressive white police officer who immediately fired me with many irrelevant questions.
Some of the questions were where I was coming from, what I was looking for in Walvis Bay, where I worked before and whether I was ever prosecuted in a court of law. He gave me 15 days to stay in Walvis Bay and that if I wanted to stay longer I needed to come back to the police to renew my permit to stay in the town. The police officer warned that if I failed to renew my permit he would come and arrest me.
We spent the entire half day in the Single Quarters interacting with the residents who were grilling meat, fish and selling ‘tombo’ (a potent traditional brew).
First I was worried that I might end up meeting people who knew me but none of the people I met was familiar. During my month’s stay in Walvis Bay, I spent most of my time interacting with the workers and other people that were of interest to me.
Like in Windhoek, I found the Walvis Bay Single Quarters full of militants who on many occasions sang revolutionary songs and discussed issues related to the liberation struggle. To me, that was an ideal moment to develop the sensitive ones for recruitment into my urban guerrilla units.
As time went on, I ended up joining those selling ‘kapana’ (barbecued meat) and fish and drinking ‘tombo’, though in limited quantities. I found the Single Quarters relatively accommodating to what I wanted to do, though I chose not to rush things.
Although there are many potential candidates I initially targeted about 10 people, but later narrowed the number to the four who displayed unparalleled loyalty to the liberation cause and to an extent had indicated their readiness to take up arms to fight against the colonial forces in Namibia. Although I was almost certain about the cooperation of these four individuals, I did not want to rush into recruiting them, as more analysis on their consistency was required.
I left Walvis Bay for Windhoek at the end of May 1985 to continue with my assignment. I went straight to Shityeni’s house where I was introduced the first time I visited Windhoek. Shityeni welcomed me warmly in comradeship spirit. Instead of telling him that I was in Walvis Bay, I told him that I was in Angola and that the SWAPO leadership had extended revolutionary greetings to him.
I had also told him that the SWAPO top leadership in Angola was very happy with the assistance he had rendered me during my first visit to Windhoek. I decided to take this route to ensure confidence building between Shityeni and myself. I did not want him to think that I was just moving around the country aimlessly.
I was able to attend church services conducted by Bishop Zephaniah Kameeta of the Lutheran Church in Katutura location twice. It was through these two church services that I learnt a combination of gospel preaching and liberation politics from Bishop Kameeta. Bishop Kameeta displayed rare moral courage by preaching liberation politics before a fully packed congregation.
He showed courage and determination by propagating liberation politics in a church full of people, some of whom could have been enemy security agents. The bishop preached politics in church, as if he was at a SWAPO rally on a soccer field.
During my stay in Windhoek, I was also able to identify potential targets for future attacks by urban guerrilla units. Among the targets I had in mind was the planting of a bomb in a car park underneath the building of the current Ministry of Defence.
I visited the Katutura and Central Police stations twice to acquaint myself with the security arrangements there. There I also identified some vulnerability that could be exploited for attacks by future urban units. Other possible targets for future attacks were military and police vehicles carrying soldiers and police officers respectively.