Pecka Semba
I woke up to the terrible news of the end of Mutti Hanse-Himarwa’s life at around 05h00 on 14 July 2024.
With this piece, I will try to narrate extracts of the life journey of a servant leader, a ‘Marientaler’ through and through.
The summer of January 1993 will forever be etched in my memory regards two milestones.
That year, I was promoted to school principal at Rooiduin Junior Secondary School in the Hardap region.
There, I met a vibrant, energetic and go-getter lady teacher by the name of Katrina Magdalena Hanse, popularly known as Mutti (in later years to carry her matrimonial surname, Himarwa).
She was a teacher and later was promoted to head of the department for languages under my tenure as principal.
Upon my being promoted to inspector of education, she succeeded me as principal, albeit for a short period, before being elevated to Hardap regional governor in 2004.
Already then, one could vividly see the signs of her extraordinary life.
Fiery, competitive, combative and not one to easily settle for second best, but extremely accommodating, soft, a person and mother to have had around.
Her national accolades and achievements are well documented, and I for one can roll them on my tongue or pen, but let me leave those to others, and hope they will do proper justice.
Let me concentrate on her lesser-known attributes and qualities.
Incredible passion for teaching
I was a little surprised when she informed me that she was gunning for a political seat. I thought she would never leave the classroom for another job. She had this beautiful affection for teaching. Teaching was her life. Mutti was always surrounded by school children, completely like a hen will be surrounded by her chicks.
Our school became a better institution through her innovative ideas of beautifying and creating a real teaching-learning atmosphere.
Her classroom was always decorated to the tee with relevant teaching-learning materials, and she extended this to our staff room and the wider school premises.
During our association, she put the school first and prided herself in being part of this school.
Through this, she carried a lot of baggage on behalf of our school through the years.
With many of our colleagues at Rooiduin Junior Secondary School, she was at the forefront of revolutionising teaching at our school.
She had many noble ideas – and when applied, most of them were relevant and practically applicable.
Years later, Minister of Education, Arts and Culture Mutti introduced perhaps one of the most important qualifying courses for temporarily-appointed primary school teachers.
Unqualified teachers became properly qualified through this programme, and this is perhaps the single-largest legacy of her as minister.
Loyalty and unity of purpose
In this aspect, she had few equals. I entrusted her, through the years of our association, with a lot of school-related duties and tasks – at times highly confidential information.
As second in command at our beloved school, she became a trusted lieutenant and confidante, protecting and jealously guarding every single sacred decision.
She remained loyal to whatever cause we collectively agreed upon, and concluded at the school level.
Some of these confidential matters we shared will go with her to the grave.
Strategist beyond any measure of imagination
Mutti was not a good diplomat at all but was a highly accomplished strategist. She would burn the midnight oil, and keep everyone in suspense in her pursuit of the correct strategy. When it is time to apply this strategy, it would more than not be the best solution to a given problem.
This could, in part, be attributed to her high analytical IQ, which led to impromptu solutions to delicate matters, something which was amazing, and which I always appreciated in her, especially at the school level.
Determination
I feel it is here that she was unjustifiably construed as somewhat controversial, and was many times misunderstood and cruelly subjected to the court of public opinion.
If Mutti put her mind and soul into something, she already visualised the outcome of that project. She would scale dizzy heights to ensure the appropriate result – come hell or high water.
Some of us who knew her in and out had the advantage of approaching her carefully, diplomatically and brotherly if we realised she would land in hot water altogether. In this, we extinguished a lot of fires on her behalf through the years.
Powerful personal strength
If Mutti entered a room or participated in a conversation, the whole energy in that space would change. She possessed such a powerful persona and strength of conviction.
In the realms of Namibian politics, this priceless virtue was at times lost in translation, and she was regarded as being arrogant, especially by wicked, opportunist and spineless politicians.
She would not rally a big crowd to fight her fights. Most of the time, she would fight alone. Most of the time, she would come out triumphant no matter what collateral damage was caused along the way.
Generosity and care
Her caring nature and generosity were legendary. If Mutti had money, I automatically also had money. If she had food, I would never go without food. If she had a car, I knew my transport issues were sorted. She was an outstanding mother to her four children: Denzel, Filany, Elsha and Nono, caring for them and protecting them like a tiger protecting her cubs.
Her mother was so revered by her, and she worshipped her. Her grandchildren, siblings, extended family and close friends each had their small little place in her caring heart.
Her husband and soulmate Ghenno Himarwa was so dear to her, and she would not leave a stone unturned in ensuring she remained a good wife to him.
Mutti’s humorous nature allowed her to live without any regrets, and it was such a joy to witness her free spirit. Even when I visited her at the Oncology facility in Windhoek during her darkest hours of battling with a terminal disease, she cracked jokes as if she had just experienced a mild headache, trying to put my concerns at ease regarding her condition. In the world-famous play by William Shakespeare, ‘Julius Ceaser’, the character Marc Antony remarked:
“…the evil that man do lives after them, but the good is often entered with their bones…”.
This means all good things one does are buried with you, but the bad things remain on earth long after you have been buried.
However, with Mutti, we will always remember the good things she had done to humanity.
No matter what you did with your life, what matters most to me is the positives you have brought to the lives of others.
Please allow her passage to eternity, because our world is no longer her home. Our resentment of her has suddenly lost meaning.
Her blissful life is no longer relevant. Please give her space to rest peacefully. She has endured enough, tjiri.
*Brother and colleague