Omugulugwombashe
Omugulugwombashe (also: ''Ongulumbashe'', official: ''Omugulu gwOombashe''; Otjiherero: ''giraffe leg'') is a List of villages and settlements in Namibia, settlement in the Tsandi Constituency, Tsandi electoral constituency in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia. The settlement features a clinic and a primary school. In 1966, Battle of Ongulumbashe, the first battle of the South African Border War was fought in Omugulugwombashe. The government of Namibia erected a monument on the 30th anniversary of the battle in 1996. Omugulugwombashe is located 22km west of Tsandi, on the D3633 gravel road. Battle of Omugulugwombashe In 1966 the United Nations General Assembly revoked South Africa's mandate to govern South West Africa (now Namibia) and placed it under direct UN administration. South Africa refused to recognize this resolution. SWAPO, South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) at that time prepared for armed resistance and founded its armed wing, the People's Liberation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Ya Otto Nankudhu
John ya Otto Nankudhu (1933–2011, Pseudonym#Nom de guerre, nom de guerre: ''Koshiwanda'', the surname is sometimes also spelled Nankugu) was a Namibian guerrilla, army officer and politician. He was the commander of the forces of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) at Omugulugwombashe when the Namibian War of Independence, armed struggle for independence began there on 26 August 1966 and was later jailed for 17 years at Robben Island. He is a National Hero of Namibia for his contributions to the independence of the country. Early life and exile Nankudhu was born on 24 June 1933 at Oluhapa in northern Namibia. He joined the Ovamboland People's Congress, the predecessor of SWAPO, in 1958, shortly after its foundation. He quickly ascended to become its chairman for Oranjemund. In 1960 he went into exile. He received military training in Egypt until 1963 and thereafter joined a military academy in the USSR where he completed training in 1964. Nankudhu returned to Afri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Nankudhu
John ya Otto Nankudhu (1933–2011, nom de guerre: ''Koshiwanda'', the surname is sometimes also spelled Nankugu) was a Namibian guerrilla, army officer and politician. He was the commander of the forces of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) at Omugulugwombashe when the armed struggle for independence began there on 26 August 1966 and was later jailed for 17 years at Robben Island. He is a National Hero of Namibia for his contributions to the independence of the country. Early life and exile Nankudhu was born on 24 June 1933 at Oluhapa in northern Namibia. He joined the Ovamboland People's Congress, the predecessor of SWAPO, in 1958, shortly after its foundation. He quickly ascended to become its chairman for Oranjemund. In 1960 he went into exile. He received military training in Egypt until 1963 and thereafter joined a military academy in the USSR where he completed training in 1964. Nankudhu returned to Africa in 1964 and, already in the rank of a commander ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Heroes' Day (Namibia)
Heroes' Day (, ) is a national public holiday in Namibia. It is recognized by the United Nations as Namibia Day. Celebrated annually on 26 August, the day commemorates the Namibian War of Independence which began on 26 August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe. Origin In 1966, the United Nations General Assembly revoked South Africa's mandate to govern South West African territory and placed it under direct UN administration. South Africa refused to recognize this resolution. The SWAPO, South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) at that time prepared for armed resistance and founded its armed wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962. Many of its erstwhile commanders were in exile, but PLAN began to infiltrate the north of Namibia to establish training camps. Omugulugwombashe was one such training camp, established in June 1966 by PLAN commander John Ya Otto Nankudhu. The group under Nankudhu had just started to build defensive structures [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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South African Border War
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 Angola from 26 August 1966 to 21 March 1990. It was fought between the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), an armed wing of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO). The South African Border War was closely intertwined with the Angolan Civil War. Following several years of unsuccessful petitioning through the United Nations and the International Court of Justice for Namibian independence from South Africa, SWAPO formed the PLAN in 1962 with material assistance from the Soviet Union, China, and sympathetic African states such as Tanzania, Ghana, and Algeria. Fighting broke out between PLAN and the South African security forces in August 1966. Between 1975 and 1988, the SADF staged m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Julius Shaambeni Shilongo Mnyika
Julius Shaambeni Shilongo Mnyika (17 January 1938 – 29 July 2003) was a Namibian guerrilla with the South West African Liberation Army (SWALA), forerunner to the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). Life Mnyika was born in Epinga, Ohangwena Region, Ovamboland. He was one of the first Namibians who went into exile in the late 1950s and 1960s because of oppression by the South African authorities. '' New Era'', 27 August 2010 After working in the of So ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) during the South African Border War. Throughout its history, PLAN had both irregular insurgent and semi-conventional units, as well as an extensive recruitment network in rural South West Africa (Namibia). During the war most of its domestic activities consisted of mine warfare and acts of sabotage. PLAN initially lacked any standing units, and the bulk of operations were carried out by political exiles who spent cyclical periods residing in refugee camps in neighbouring states before launching raids inside South West Africa itself. By the end of the war, PLAN had 32,000 militants under arms, including three battalions of semi-conventional troops equipped with heavy weapons. PLAN launched its largest and final offensive in late April and early May 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sam Nujoma
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma ( ; 12May 19298February 2025) was 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 president of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) in 1960. Nujoma became involved in anti-colonial politics during the 1950s. In 1959, he co-founded and served as the first president of the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO), a nationalist organization advocating an independent Namibia. In December 1958 he was an organizer of the Old Location resistance and was arrested and deported to Ovamboland. In 1960, he escaped and went into exile in Tanzania where he was welcomed by Julius Nyerere. Nujoma played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia's political independence from South African rule. The OPO was renamed SWAPO in 1960. Nujoma established the People's Lib ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Simeon Kambo Shixungileni
Simeon Linekela Kambo Shixungileni (1934 at Okandiva village in Edundja – 2014 in Oshakati), was a Namibian guerrilla, army officer and politician. He was the second commander in -charge of the forces of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) at Omugulugwombashe when the armed struggle for independence began there on 26 August 1966 and was later jailed at Robben Island. He is a National Hero of Namibia for his contributions to the independence of the country. Battle at Omugulugwombashe In 1966 the UN General Assembly revoked South Africa mandate to govern South West African territory and placed it under direct UN administration. South Africa refused to recognize this resolution. The group under Nankudhu had just started to build defensive structures and planned to train about 90 soldiers at Omugulugwombashe. On 26 August 1966, eight helicopters of the South African Defence Force attacked the PLAN guerrilla fighters, only 17 of which were in the camp at the time of att ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gaus Shikomba
Gaus Shikomba (27 January 1935 - 3 November 2007) was a South West Africa Liberation Army (Swala) intelligence officer who was imprisoned on Robben Island from 1966 to 1984. Military career and imprisonment Shikomba was born in 1935 at Onashiku shaLaban near Oshakati in Oshana Region. He joined the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) in 1959 and SWAPO in 1960. Shikomba got into politics after meeting Ya Toivo at Ondangwa. He become a political mobilizer in his locality along with Fidelis Laban and Leo Shoopala. He participated in the Battle of Omugulugwombashe on 26 August 1966, during which he was shot and captured and taken prisoner. He was initially taken to Pretoria but was sent to back to Namibia for a trial in which he was found guilty by Windhoek Supreme Court in August 1969 of conspiring to overthrow the South West African administration with a SWAPO-led one. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island, albeit he was released on 11 May 1984. Release a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hifikepunye Pohamba
Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1935) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 Namibian presidential election, 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO and was reelected in 2009 Namibian presidential election, 2009. Pohamba was the president of SWAPO from 2007 until his retirement in 2015. He is a recipient of the Ibrahim Prize. Before his presidency, Pohamba served in various ministerial positions, beginning with Namibia's independence in 1990. He was Ministry of Home Affairs (Namibia), Minister of Home Affairs from 1990 to 1995, Ministry of Fisheries (Namibia), Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources from 1995 to 1997, Minister without portfolio from 1997 to 2000, and Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation from 2001 to 2005. He was also secretary-general of SWAPO from 1997 to 2002 and vice-president of SWAPO from 2002 to 2007. Early life Hi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Immanuel Shifidi
Immanuel Hafeni Augustus Shifidi (16 July 1929 – 30 November 1986), born in Windhoek, was a Namibian activist. He was one of the fighters at OmugulugwombasheNamibia: Immanuel Shifidi - a Martyr of the Namibian Revolution , '' New Era'', 15 July 2011, Shimpapi Shiremo on 26 August 1966 when eight helicopters of the attacked [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Ongulumbashe
The Battle of Ongulumbashe (also known as Operation Blouwildebees) was an armed confrontation between the South African Defence Force (SADF)/ South African Police (SAP) and the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) at Ongulumbashe in northern South West Africa (today Namibia). Though SWAPO had already carried out several attacks in 1965 and early 1966, the battle marked the first time that elements of the South African security forces directly clashed with SWAPO insurgents and is considered to be the start of the South African Border War. Background In 1962, the UN General Assembly adopted the position that South Africa's mandate over South West Africa (in force since the end of World War I) should be terminated and that the territory should be given independence. South Africa, at this time under the rule of the Apartheid regime, refused to recognize this decision and no substantial moves towards independence for the territory were made. The inaction of the South ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |