Kondjeni Lazarus Haikokola was forced into exile because he was a marked man. His political activities and belief in the country’s self-determination were his predispositions.
But little did he know that at the time he left Namibia to join the liberation struggle in 1974, he was on the Apartheid government’s most wanted terrorist list.
It was only after July 2004 that he found out how much of a nuisance the apartheid government considered him to be. On 2 July 2004, then Home Affairs Minister Jerry Ekandjo wrote to then National Assembly Speaker Mose Tjitendero, informing him that he stumbled upon a list of 51 people who were wanted by the Apartheid government and “marked as terrorists during the war of liberation.”
On the list, Haikokola’s name was amongst household names like Sam Nujoma, Nickey Iyambo, Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, Tjitendero himself, Vinia Helao Ndadi, John YaOtto, Maxton Mutongolume and Israel Patrick Iyambo.
Haikokola, who is more well known by his combat name ‘Hayuumba’, has remained committed to his uniform and gun from the time he joined Plan in 1975 to his retirement during 2013 in an independent Namibia. But he has rubbed shoulders with people who became politicians and even Cabinet ministers in an independent Namibia.
Hayuumba, was introduced to politics and Swapo by stalwarts Axel Johannes and Benjamin Namalambo in the late 1960s. He became a youth mobiliser and worked underground to bring about youth consciousness, the need for independence and self-determination in Windhoek.
His political activities landed him in trouble with the authorities, and late in 1973, he was arrested and banished to Owamboland. He was prohibited from crossing south of the red line.
The confinement was short-lived, and an opportunity to join the struggle for Namibia’s independence was presented when Portugal left Angola in 1974. During the last months of that year, Hayuumba’s friends from Windhoek came to Owamboland; the plan was to cross into Angola to join the liberation struggle. They were a big group of youths seeking to liberate their country. Among them were Philemon ‘Lumumba’ Malima, Kaire Mbuende, Benjamin Namalambo, Ruben ‘Danger’ Ashipala, Ponhele yaFrance, Erkki Nghimtina and Elia Ambabi.
The group of about 100 eventually made their way into Zambia at Satota, famously known in Namibia and Swapo as Oshatotwa. A military base headed by commander Agustinus Nghaamwa, known by his combat name McNamara.
McNamara introduced the youth to basic weapons training, but felt they were too young and belonged in school.
On the other hand, his guests were growing restless and wanted to see action.
“Elia Ambabi was a good talker, so we instigated him to talk on our behalf to get the leadership to take us to battle,” Hayuumba said as he reminisced.
Eventually, the group was split, and those opting for school were granted that wish, while Hayuumba opted for battle. He received further specialised training on handling heavy guns at Kasapa in Angola.
During this period, Hayuumba encountered and was trained by a number of legendary Plan commanders. Dimo Hamaambo led him from Satota to Kasapa, where he found Wilbard ‘Nakada’ Tashiya as camp commander, deputised by Mathias ‘Mbulunganga’ Ndakola. He also worked with Elias ‘Hailonga’ Haulondjaba.
Kasapa was a difficult camp to be in; there were food shortages, children and women had to be prioritised. Supplies were about 70 kilometres away on foot. There was no vehicle access to it, and as part of their training, Hayuumba and his fellow soldiers made the trips to fetch the much-needed supplies.
Hayuumba’s first mission came with instructions from Hamaambo and he was grouped with Phillipus ‘Shikuma’ Kamati and Martin Kashilulu Nambala. They were headed towards Cunene in Angola. Their mission was to receive and help Plan fighters crossing into Angola.
Hamaambo again moved Hayuumba and his team to Ohaindo in Angola. There they would become the liaisons between Namibian business people and the Plan command structures. Businesspeople like Eliakim Namundjebo and David Sheehama would cross into Angola to provide assistance and intelligence to Plan. The businesspeople would also bring nurses embedded in hospitals and clinics in Namibia. The nurses helped establish protocols on what Plan guerrillas should do when wounded inside Namibia and needed medical attention. They also provided medical supplies and information.
This relationship also brought about a breakthrough in collecting evidence, including pictures, proving that Unita had started working with South Africa.
It was also David Sheehama who informed Hayuumba that Unita has started impersonating Plan and capturing Namibians seeking to join Plan when they cross into Angola.
Sheehama was openly supportive of Plan and Swapo.
“He once donated 12 bicycles, and I also remember him bringing us R12 000,” he points out. Hayuumba remembers the bond he had with Sheehama and the late businessman’s contribution to the liberation struggle.
“David would take me around and show me the areas of Uukwaluudhi, Mbalantu and Uukolonkadhi. He even got me a South African identity document to appear to be his son,” he adds.
During this period, another David from Uukolonkadhi, David Shimwino, also used to work as an operative and bring the Plan fighters bags of money from inside Namibia.
Between 1976 and 1977, things got intense.
The South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF), now getting intelligence about the presence of Plan operatives in the country, started torching the homes of people suspected of harbouring the ‘terrorists’ also known as ‘iikulo’ in Oshiwambo.
During that period, Hayuumba would get entangled in many skirmishes and encounters with enemy troops, including surviving Unita ambushes.
“I kept making the enemy’s life impossible,” he recalled.
He kept going into Western Owamboland with military operations to unsettle the SWATF in the area. So successful were his operations, that the Plan command structures took Swapo Central Committee members on a tour of Western Owamboland to prove that because of the Plan operations in the area, white South Africans were no longer freely roaming the area as they used to.
During this period, Hayuumba was in battle alongside fighters like Uno Shaanika (commander Kanana), Kayambu kaAmupolo, Ben ‘Shikovela’ Shikongo. By then, he was also elevated to detachment commander and was deputised by Philemon ‘Lumumba’ Malima.
In the early 1980s, Hayuumba was sent to school, first finishing secondary schooling in Ghana, then receiving political and leadership training at the party school in East Germany and office management training in the United Kingdom.
On his return from his studies, he was sent back to the front, but this time with a different mission.
“I was smuggling weapons into the country,” he said. The objective was to arm civilians in the Kaokoland area so that they too could put up resistance to the SWATF. Fortunately, the war came to an end.
Haikokola joined the NDF in 1990 and served his country with distinction by participating in peacekeeping missions abroad, like in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia. He was also deployed to the Kavango region around 1999, when Unita started threatening Namibia’s sovereignty. He retired from the military in 2013.
