Lieutenant General Mweukefina Kulaumone Jerobeam Dimo Hamaambo (27 October 1932 – 8 September 2002) 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 military commander in both 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 ...

as a SWAPO member and in independent Namibia as the Chief of Defence in the Namibia Defence Force. He became the second commander of 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) in 1967 after the death of

Tobias Hainyeko Tobias Hainyeko (1932–1967) was a Namibian guerrilla fighter who served as the first commander of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) during the Namibian War of Independence from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Early life and career ...

and held the position until independence was gained in 1990.

Pre-military career

Hamaambo was one of the thirteen children of his mother Josephina Melila Shipo and father Jona Hamaambo in Eengava, Ovamboland (now known as

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 ...

). After receiving some education in area schools, Hamaambo went to work outside of Ovamboland as a contract labourer on a

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

owned farm as well as a domestic worker, at a cannery in

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...

and eventually in the gold mines of

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 ...

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 ...

. Hamaambo eventually returned to Namibia and joined the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO), a predecessor of the SWAPO, at Walvis Bay in 1959. In 1960-61, Hamaambo attempted to leave the country via a boat leaving

Lobito Lobito is a Municipalities of Angola, municipality in Angola. It is located in Benguela Province, on the Atlantic Coast north of the Catumbela Estuary. The Lobito municipality had a population of 393,079 in 2014. History The city was founded in ...

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

for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

but was caught and returned to Namibia.

Exile

Hamaambo went into exile in 1962 through Bechuanaland (now

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

) and into Tanganyika (now

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

). From Tanzania, Hamaambo went for military training in newly independent

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and later 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, ...

before becoming Second Deputy Army Commander of what was to become the

(PLAN) in 1966, the year which began the

. Quickly rising through the ranks, Hamaambo become First Deputy in 1967 and Army Commander in 1968. In 1974 the soldiers led by Hamaambo started using

Cassinga Cassinga or Kassinga is a town and commune in the municipality of Jamba, province of Huíla, Angola. It is situated on an old and important two-track road from Jamba to Huambo. Established as an ore mine and during the Civil War allegedly u ...

, an abandoned

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

n iron ore mine, as a stopover point for a few weeks They soon thereafter occupied the place. which quickly became not only a military camp but also a refugee camp. Cassinga was attacked by air on 4 May 1978 by the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

in the

Battle of Cassinga The Battle of Cassinga also known as the Cassinga Raid or Kassinga Massacre was a controversial South African airborne attack on a South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) military camp at the town of Cassinga, Angola on 4 May 1978. Cond ...

. Hamaambo barely escaped. He remained army commander of PLAN forces until PLAN's absorption into the new

Namibian Defence Force The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) comprises the national military forces of Namibia. It was created when the country, then known as South West Africa, gained independence from South Africa in 1990. Chapter 15 of the Constitution of Namibia establ ...

in 1989. After PLAN's absorption, Hamaambo returned to Namibia prior to independence.

Namibian Defence Force

Upon independence in March 1990, Hamaambo was named first Chief of Defence Force. He served until his retirement in 2000 at the age of 68. Hamaambo died in September 2002 and was the first person buried as a hero at Heroes' Acre, a war memorial south of

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 ...

. Hamaambo also had the first ship of the

Namibian Navy The Namibian Navy is the maritime warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force. History Development of Namibia's navy has been slow, and the force was only formally established on 11 September 1998 as a maritime wing and in 2004 as a fully ...

, the imperial Marinheiro class corvette NS Lt Gen Dimo Hamaambo, named after him. The Grootfontein Military Base is also named after him, Lt Gen Dimo Hamaambo Garrison.

References

Notes

Literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamaambo, Dimo 1932 births 2002 deaths People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel Namibian military personnel Members of SWAPO People from Ohangwena Region National heroes of Namibia