KATIMA MULILO – While some Zambezi residents are grumbling over the name change of the region the family of Judea Lyaboloma are happy one of the constituencies has been named after him.
One of two newly created constituencies in the Zambezi Region was named after one of Namibia’s unsung liberation heroes. The move invalidates claims they were ‘unhappy’ with the renaming since they were ostensibly not consulted prior to the renaming. Several members of Judea Lyaboloma’s family, including his widowed wife travelled from Makanga, 70km west of Katima Mulilo to pay a courtesy call on the Zambezi Regional Council to express their gratitude over the fact that the government has finally honoured one of the unsung fallen struggle heroes from that region, the late Judea Lyaboloma. “This family was one of the beneficiaries in the Zambezi Region by having one of the constituencies named after our father, husband and grandfather who received a medal for bravery in 2002 at Heroes Acre as one of the country’s heroes. Our father and others in this region were arrested and taken to Pretoria for imprisonment and he never returned home. The Lyaboloma family found it fitting to come and show their appreciation to the head of state and the delimitation commission for a job well done,” Lennox Kulubone the family spokesman said. The family further lauded the regional leadership for bestowing the name on a constituency which is inhabited predominantly by a different ethnic group, saying it shows unity and cements the spirit of One Namibia, One nation.
“We would also like to thank our constituency councillor, the governor, the Mafwe Traditional Authority and the Swapo Party leadership. We believe every drop of blood that was spilled in this region was not for a particular village or region, but for Namibia as a whole. We have towns, streets or locations named after our heroes and heroines even though they don’t necessarily come from those particular areas,” they said, making reference to the newly created Judea Lyaboloma constituency, inhabited mostly by people from the Mayeyi ethnic group. However, the family was not happy that the widows and children of fallen liberation struggle hero Judea Lyaboloma have not yet received any assistance from the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.
“All the wives of the late Lyaboloma are still alive and none of them have so far received any assistance from the veterans affairs ministry. A total of six of his children are still alive and using different surnames, because of intimidation from security forces during the colonial period. We appeal to the president (Hifikepunye Pohamba) to be allowed to re-apply for our original surnames without payment, since none of the children were able to finish school under the conditions they were living in,” pleaded the family of the late liberation hero.
Linyanti Constituency Councillor, Cletius Sipapela, who facilitated the meeting, said the three names of Lyaboloma’s widows were submitted to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and cited lack of coordination between the regional council and the ministry as one possible explanation for the delay in rendering them assistance.
“The issue of assistance was already raised even in parliament. Two names were registered but we don’t know the status of the applications. We therefore request the office of the Governor to look at this matter. The office of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs is here, but we don’t see cooperation between the office and the regional council,” complained Sipapela.
The Governor of the Zambezi Region, Lawrence Sampofu, who himself fought alongside some of Judea Lyaboloma’s sons during the liberation struggle, hailed the Lyaboloma family for embracing the decision of the government amidst heavy criticism from some sections of the population.
“There’s a lot of noise regarding the name Zambezi even though this is our original name. I am really gratified by the move you have taken. The Lyaboloma family fought for our independence and some of the members of the family fought alongside me. We want to see our heroes honoured so that our children know that there was Judea Lyaboloma, Benjamin Bebi or Greenwell Matongo. That is the respect and honour they deserve,” stressed Sampofu. Sampofu promised to look at the plight of Lyaboloma’s widows regarding assistance and denounced people who misrepresent themselves as war veterans and subsequently drain state coffers. “Some of the people in our region are fraudulently getting assistance while they did not even contribute anything to the struggle. I will get the names of the Lyaboloma family and make sure that the whole process is expedited,” he pledged. Along with the renaming of the region, the Linyanti constituency was recently split into two constituencies, one of which has become the Lyaboloma constituency.