Peter Mweshihange (5 May 1930 – 20 March 1998) was a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n revolutionary and guerrilla leader, and after Namibian independence, a politician and diplomat. He was the Namibia's first

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 1990 to 1995, and first ambassador to the People's Republic of China from 1996 until his death.

Early life

Mweshihange was born as fifth of twenty-five children on 5 May 1930 in Epinga near the border with

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in former

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts ...

, today

Ohangwena Region Ohangwena is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Eenhana. Major settlements in the region are the towns Eenhana and Helao Nafidi aa well as the self-governed village of Okongo. , Ohangwena had 150,724 registered voters. Ohang ...

. In his childhood years, he developed knowledge of the local flora and considered himself to be a

traditional healer A folk healer is an unlicensed person who practices the art of healing using traditional practices, herbal remedies and the power of suggestion. The healer may be a highly trained person who pursues their specialties, learning by study, observa ...

, using his childhood friends as

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...

s. He attended St. Mary's Mission School at

Odibo Odibo is a village in the north of Namibia close to the Angolan border known for its Anglican mission ''St Mary''. It belongs to the Oshikango electoral constituency in the Ohangwena Region. Odibo is also an Archdeaconry in the Diocese of Nam ...

from the age of 11, and from the age of 14 he received training to become a teacher. He moved to

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag ...

in 1946 and worked first as truck driver, then as head of transport services at the

South West Africa Native Labour Association The South West African Native Labour Association (SWANLA) was a labour contracting organisation which contracted primarily Ovambo people from Ovamboland in northern Namibia to work in the diamond mines in Namibia's southern ǁKaras Region. It was e ...

(SWANLA), the colonial labour hire company of South-West Africa. Mweshihange was arrested in

Rundu Rundu is the capital and largest city of the Kavango-East Region in northern Namibia. It lies on the border with Angola on the banks of the Kavango River about above sea level. Rundu's population is growing rapidly. The 2001 census counted 36,9 ...

in 1954 on his first attempt to go into exile. He was not convicted, but left South-West Africa soon afterwards to work as miner in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

and as chef for the French consul-general in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He joined the resistance movement there and followed

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

into

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

n exile in 1960.

Career

Exile years

The first years in exile Mweshihange furthered his education, studying towards a teacher's training certificate at Kivukoni Training College in Dar es Salaam in 1961 and 1962, and political science and ideology in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

in 1963 and 1964. Together with Nujoma he managed SWAPO's administration and resistance strategy, attempting to intensify the struggle for independence. From this attempt emerged the start of armed guerrilla action against the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n occupiers, and in 1966 the

Namibian War of Independence The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and An ...

started with a South African assault at

Omugulugwombashe Omugulugwombashe (also: ''Ongulumbashe'', official: ''Omugulu gwOombashe''; Otjiherero: ''giraffe leg'') is a settlement in the Tsandi electoral constituency in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia. The settlement features a clinic and a primar ...

in northern Namibia. At that time, Mweshihange was a commander in the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the Sou ...

(PLAN), the armed wing of SWAPO. Within the party structure he rose to the position of Secretary of Internal Affairs in 1970 and subsequently went to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to receive military training. In 1986 he became SWAPO's Secretary of Defense, responsible for PLAN's strategy to conduct the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

. He was responsible for supervising PLAN operations during the decisive

Battle of Cuito Cuanavale The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was fought intermittently between 14 August 1987 and 23 March 1988, south and east of the town of Cuito Cuanavale, Angola, by the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and advisors and sold ...

After Namibian independence

Mweshihange was a member of the SWAPO Central Committee and Politburo since the early days of the

Ovamboland People's Congress The Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) was a nationalist organization that existed between 1959 and 1960 in South West Africa (now present day Namibia). The aim of the organization was to end the South African colonial administration, and the ...

, of which he was a co-founder. At the time of independence in 1990, Mweshihange was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

as one of the

members of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia Below is a list of members of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia, which became the National Assembly of Namibia upon independence in March 1990. Individual members were selected by political parties voted for in the 1989 election, the first de ...

with SWAPO, and appointed

. In 1996, he became Namibia's first ambassador to the People's Republic of China, a position he held until his death. He died on 20 March 1998 while on a home visit to

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

. Peter Mweshihange was given a state funeral at Windhoek's

Old Location The Old Location (or as it was known then the Main Location) was an area segregated for Black residents of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was situated in the area between today's suburbs of Hochland Park and Pioneers Park. History Upon the ...

Cemetery, and later re-buried at the Namibian National Heroes' Acre.

Theo-Ben Gurirab Theo-Ben Gurirab (23 January 1938 – 14 July 2018) was a Namibian politician who served in various senior government positions. He served as the second Prime Minister of Namibia from 28 August 2002 to 20 March 2005, following the demotion and ...

remembered him as a culinary master and "connoisseur of good things in life".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mweshihange, Peter 1930 births 1998 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel Namibian diplomats People from Ohangwena Region SWAPO politicians Ambassadors of Namibia to China Defence ministers of Namibia National heroes of Namibia