Uakutura Kambaekua

Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani has hailed former Opuwo town councillor, the late Katahunda Matundu, as a hero to whom the PDM owes its existence.
 Matundu, who was a councillor of the Opuwo Town Council between 1992 and 2002, died last Monday after a protracted illness. He was 66.
 Venaani told Nampa Matundu, a renowned businessman and agriculturalist in the Kunene region, was a hero of his time, who fought steadfastly for the Kunene people’s economic emancipation and a staunch political commissioner who mobilised PDM members in Kunene.
 Matundu, according to Venaani, pushed development goals in contemporary methods, particularly in agriculture, where he championed the modern breeding of the Boer Goat in the Kunene region.
 “He was not only a pioneer in agriculture but a party mobiliser; he was also a general field marshal, which is one of the highest ranks in the Herero Red Flag. He was a hero to us,” Venaani remarked.
 During his time in the council chambers, where he also sat on the management committee, Matundu oversaw an array of development initiatives, including the building of agricultural auction pens and schools in Opuwo.
 “He is the reason Opuwo became what it is today; he played a huge role in the development of Opuwo,” Venaani continued.
 Also speaking to Nampa was Mike Venaani, McHenry’s father, who during Matundu’s heydays served as Democratic Turnhalle Alliance’s (now PDM) secretary general.

Venaani described the late Matundu as a “political commissioner” in Kunene.
 According to him, Matundu was part of the squad that was dispatched to Botswana and Angola prior to independence to return OvaHerero people for the 1978 Resolution 435 negotiations that also gave rise to Namibian independence.
 “During my time as DTA secretary general, Matundu was one of the people I used to send to Angola and Botswana alongside Peter Kamuzari, Uahuma Hei and others to go repatriate our people in those countries so that they can come home and form part of the Resolution 435 discussions,” he said.
 Matundu will be laid to rest on Saturday at the Okarundu Kozombangane heroes’ shrine at Opuwo. 

Okarundu Kozombangane is to the people of Kaokoland [present day Kunene] what the Heroes’ Acre is to Namibia. -Nampa