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

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n revolutionary and

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

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

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

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 Epinga is a village and a former Anglican mission in Ohangwena Region, Namibia. It belongs to the Omundaungilo electoral constituency and is part of the former Ovamboland bantustan. Notable residents include military commanders Julius Shaambeni ...

near the border with

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

in former

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia). The apartheid government stat ...

, 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 as well as the self-governed village of Okongo and the proclaimed settlements Ongha, Ongenga and O ...

. 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. Origin The term "folk" was traditionally associated with medical and healing practices that were ...

, 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'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...

s. He attended St. Mary's Mission School at Odibo from the age of 11, and from the age of 14 he received training to become a teacher. He moved to

Tsumeb Tsumeb (; ) is a city of around 35,000 inhabitants and the largest town in the Oshikoto Region, Oshikoto region in northern Namibia. Tsumeb, since its founding in 1905, has been primarily a mining town. The town is the site of a deep mine (the ...

in 1946 and worked first as truck driver, then as head of transport services at the South West Africa Native Labour Association (SWANLA), the colonial labour hire company of

South-West Africa South West Africa was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. South West Africa bordered Angola ( a Portu ...

. Mweshihange was arrested in

Rundu Rundu is the capital and the 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 ...

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 language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and as

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

for the French consul-general in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. He joined the resistance movement there and followed

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 t ...

into Tanganyikan 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 Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

in 1961 and 1962, and political science and ideology in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

in 1963 and 1964. Together with Nujoma he managed

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

's administration and resistance strategy, attempting to intensify the struggle for independence. From this attempt emerged the start of armed

action against the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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 Angol ...

started with a South African assault at

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 o ...

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 Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) during the S ...

(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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

. 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 Cuito Cuanavale, Angola, by the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and Cuba against South Africa an ...

After Namibian independence

Mweshihange was a member of the SWAPO Central Committee and

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

since the early days of the Ovamboland People's Congress, of which he was a co-founder. At the time of independence in 1990, Mweshihange was elected 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 Namibian parliamentary ...

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, which ...

. Peter Mweshihange was given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

at Windhoek's

Old Location The Old Location (or as it was known then the Main Location) was an area Apartheid, 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. Histo ...

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 Politicians from Ohangwena Region SWAPO politicians Ambassadors of Namibia to China Defence ministers of Namibia National heroes of Namibia