KEETMANSHOOP - //Kharas governor Aletha Frederick has eulogised the late Swapo deputy secretary general Marco Hausiku as a great leader of substance who dedicated his entire life for freedom, justice and equality.
This was how she described the late Hausiku in a speech read on her behalf by !Nami#Nus constituency councillor Susan Ndjaleka during a memorial service held in Keetmanshoop earlier this week.
Hausiku served government in various ministerial portfolios.
He served in the country’s Constituent Assembly immediately prior to independence, and was also the founding rector of the Swapo Party School.
Hausiku was elected as Swapo deputy secretary general in 2017, a position he occupied till his death after a sickbed in a Windhoek hospital.
He was 67.
Frederick urged fellow Namibians to draw strength and inspiration from leaders like Hausiku.
“We, as a nation, indeed owe this man a great deal of gratitude for the sacrifices he made towards the betterment of our lives, now living in a free and independent Namibia,” she added.
Speaking at the same event, Swapo //Kharas coordinator Matheus Mumbala said Hausiku was a hero in all aspects of his life.
“We should not mourn our heroes, but must instead celebrate the lives they have lived,” he added.
The politician also described Hausiku as one of the pillars of strength during Namibia’s fight for independence.
“Despite the many challenges that the liberation struggle faced, victory was attained thanks to people like Marco Hausiku,” he said.
Mumbala emphasised that the political icon served the country and Swapo with honour and dedication as a disciplined cadre, teacher, freedom fighter and veteran of the liberation struggle.
“We will always remember Marco Hausiku as a humble leader from whom most of us learned something in life,” he noted.
Swapo veteran Jonathan Goliath, who served a term of imprisonment with Hausiku during the apartheid era, described him as a pillar of the national liberation struggle to attain independence.
“I will remember him as a person of principle, who always fought for a true course, having a mindset that was difficult to be changed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Anna Marie Pieter, regional secretary for the Swapo Party Elders Council in the //Kharas region and a student of Hausiku at the Swapo Party School, said her late rector taught them valuable political lessons in life. She added that Hausiku’s legacy would continue through his deeds on earth.
- sklukowski@nepc.com.na