Frans Nambwanga is a man with a multifaceted story as a war hero. His story is characterised by his multiple noms de guerre, he was a specialist in returning from missions of no return. But ultimately he achieved renown the day he emptied his machine gun fighting off enemy fighters while protecting Plan’s second in command Solomon ‘Jesus’ Hawala. The year was 1978.
Hawala went on to live 47 more years before dying at the age of 89 on 11 August 2025. Hawala also went on to become the second Chief of Defence Forces in an independent Namibiana and retired as a Lieutenant General in 2006.
But who is Nambwanga, the man who saved the revered Plan commander’s life 47 years ago.
Nambwanga came from working on a Japanese fishing and canning vessel off the coast of Angola to being a man the Plan hierarchy could call on when the missions become impossible, the man with at least three noms de guerre has an epic war tale to tell.
Even his identity was not as straightforward. He was known by his various combat names, most common are Mbwangela, Castor and Shikumbu ShaMaria.
Castro has fought alongside many decorated Plan fighters and has been on various fronts and served in different units, including the revered special forces Typhoon, led by Ruben ‘Danger’ Ashipila.
But even battle hardened soldiers, who escaped death multiple times, have a heart. Early in the interview, Nambwanga was asked what was his hardest and most unpleasant moment in the war.
“Christian Kala!”
He said before breaking down. With tears rolling down his face he apologised for being emotional and took about five minutes to compose himself.
The question was posed because a significant number of his fellow Plan fighters insisted that he be interviewed, even though he was not initially on the list of those to be profiled. His legend is well known, but mostly among his fellow Plan soldiers.
Nambwanga said he attempted to kill himself at least three times to avoid capture by the enemy forces, but none of that was as difficult as the day commander Christian Kala died in his hands. It was the night of 6 July 1980, they were in a convoy with Plan chief Dimo Hamaambo himself. Kala was the Plan chief of artillery and appears to have made a major impression on Nambwanga who was relatively young but having experienced war already.
The vehicle he and Kala were driving in, was destroyed by a landmine and, unfortunately, Kala did not survive the blast.
“He died in my hands,” he said.
The incident happened in the Iindungu area and the next day, Kala was buried at Cassinga. Dimo insisted that he be laid to rest in the Cassinga mass grave with his comrades.
“I still vividly remember Dimo saluting, as we buried Kala,” he said, now composed.
However, Nambwanga’s legend was born on the morning of 29 March 1978 in the Singalamwi area of the then Caprivi strip.
After news of Clemens Kapuuo’s death two days prior, Plan decided to mark the occasion with a significant attack on a SWATF target. The Singalamwe base outside Katima Mulilo was identified as the mark.
Plan’s second in command, Salomon ‘Jesus’ Hawala was in charge of the operation and had a star studded team.
Hawala was leading Helao Nafidi, Thomas ‘Nopoudjuu’ Hamunyela, Gabs ‘Uukwangali waHanyangha’ Kashe and Erkkie Nghimtina.
Nafidi was Plan’s chief political commissar and member of the Plan security council when he died during September 1981. He died in a landmine explosion after his vehicle detonated a landmine.
‘Nopoudjuu’ went on to become a war hero and continued his decorated military career in an independent Namibia. He retired as army commander of the Namibia defence forces, a renk just below that of the chief of defence forces. Nghimtina became a politician after independence and served as minister of defence. Kashe was a revered Plan fighter who kept a low profile after independence and continued his uniformed career until he retired.
Nafidi then tasks Nambwanga to become Hawala’s bodyguard for the duration of the mission.
“The instructions were that under no circumstances should Hawala be caught alive by the enemy,” he recalls.
On 28 March, the attack was carried out as planned that evening. It was not as successful as some of the rockets missed the intended targets. “I think we did not properly calibrate the launchers,” he said.
The next morning saw the SWATF pursue them, with a contingent consisting of ground troops and air support. At about six that morning they saw a plane hovering above them. A heavy guns specialist, Nambwanga only remembers as Jona, attempts to shoot the plane with a rocket and misses, but fortunately the rocket hit SWATF ground troops who were closing in. That bought the guerilla fighters some time to escape, but not for long.
A few hours later, more helicopters found them.
Nambwanga recalls Helao Nafidi deciding to shoot at the choppers with his AK47.
“We then saw the boers, emerging from the tall grass and the marches, less than 20 metres away,” he recalls. He adds that he does not recall how they managed to hide Hawala in a dense thicket, but he recalls mounting his PK machine gun just in front of the thicket to defend the commander with his life.
“I laid on the wet swamp and dismounted my chains with over 1 200 rounds and started shooting until I realised I only had one bullet left,” he recalls.
By then the danger was over and no more enemy troops were headed their way.
Nafidi managed to get the anti-aircraft team to shoot one fighter jet out of the air. Although the Plan Jeep carrying the guns also got hit and destroyed in the process.
With his empty machine gun, he managed to get Hawala to safety.
On 2 April, Swapo’s then defence secretary Peter ‘Ndilimani’ Nanyemba, paraded Nambawanga and declared him a hero for defending Hawala’s life.
Nambwanga operated on the eastern front as it was known and participated in some of the more successful operations like the attack on the Katima Mulilo base during August 1978. As a trusted solder, Hawala would also put him on the protection details of other senior Plan commanders like Hamunyela Shalale.
During 1979, James Auala, then moved him to Angola and he received further training at the Tobias Hainyeko Training Centre before joining the elite special forces unit, volcano, later renamed Typhoon.
He took missions of no return in the Okaoko, Uukonlonkadhi, Uukwaluudhi areas, he also undertook similar missions in the Tsumeb-Otavi-Grootfontein triangle. Missions in Angola and central northern regions of what used to be known as Owamboland.
He remembers his first mission of no return as one which made him feel invincible and took the fear of death out of him.
It was February 1981 and Nambewanga was at a Plan outpost at Xangongo. He had just been inducted into the Plan elite special forces lead by Ruben ‘Danger’ Ashipala a few months earlier. He remembers being inducted by a man he only remembers as Kapoko, who was Ashipala’s second in command. Celebrated Typhoon commander Neulikufa ‘Akushinda’ Kalomoh was also part of this induction.
On 4 February the outpost receives important guests. It was Plan’s Chief of operations Martin Shalli and head of special forces ‘Danger’ Ashipala himself. “I finally got to meet the two commanders,” he recalls being in awe and star struck when he met the legendary commanders.
There he received orders that he was going to partake in his first mission of no return. He was to go and carry out sabotage missions in Outjo and Walvis Bay moving via the Okaoko area. On the mission he was to deputise a soldier he only remembers as Gaius (commonly pronounced as Ngeas amongst Aawambo people) who he recalls said hails from Uukolonkadhi’s Epalela area.
The mission didn’t go as planned and while in the area south west of Opuwo they encountered a large continent of SWATF troops. Some were on horsebacks. The Plan fighters give out some diversionary shots in a bid to escape and separate to avoid being captured in one go.
Nambwanga found himself alone and walking for three days without water and food. Then he saw animals at a water point from a distance and walked towards it, but found that it was manned by enemy troops. He was then spotted in his attempt to escape and the SWATF troops pursued him, but for about half a day they could not find him and they eventually left. He said he hid in a ditch next to a tree and he pulled out a hand grenade. “I decided that I will blow myself up to avoid being captured alive,” he recalls. However, the hunger and dehydration took over and he passed out, only to awake at sunset and to his amusement, he was not found. The water hole was still guarded by the enemy troops and he said he could tell by the smell of cigarette smoke while approaching the water hole. He saw fresh elephant dung, urinated on it and drank the residue he squeezed from the dank. Anything to keep him going.
That night he found an open water pond and he started drinking the water and he realised that it tasted terrible but he had no choice, so he filled his two containers and moved on. About an hour later he was sick. Vomiting and a running stomach, he told himself it must have been the water. The night was long and the pain excruciating. He eventually found a tree trunk that looked thick enough for him to hide and sleep. In the morning he was awakened by sounds of vehicles moving, he realised that several SWATF vehicles just drove past him, without taking notice. “I woke up and there was an armed personnel carrier driving past me. That was very frightening,” he recalls adding that despite the stomach cramps, he decided to move on or risk being found by the enemy.
Later that day, he found two locals who helped him. They first took him to a nearby windmill and ensured he got clean water to drink. One of the men took him home where he was hobouring another lonesome Plan fighter. They were fed and rested and ready to move the next day. They moved southwards until they found the Kamanjab road and they continued until they found themselves in the Onamatanga area of Uukwaludhi. They were extremely fortunate as the man who discovered them was Shikongo Sha Taapopi, the Uukwaludhi king himself. He was attending to his cattle post in the area. The Uukwaludhi king was very hospitable and kind to them. After a day of rest Nambwanga and his companion were on the move again. They tracked through Uukolonkadhi and crossed the borders near Calueque, were they found two other Plan fighters, who took them along to Xangongo, just to be captured on suspicions of being Unita or South African spies. They were released days later after it was verified that the four were indeed Plan.
Nambwanga, served on all of Plan’s five fronts during his career as a guerilla fighter and this allowed him to rub shoulders with almost all of Plan’s top hierarchy.
He was something of a thrill seeker who would cut his cooling off period of five months short to head into the next mission.
Nambwanga left his job working for a Japanese fishing and canning vessel to join Namibia’s liberation struggle in 1974. After learning how to read and write Portuguese, he was inspired to join the struggle for liberation after reading MPLA newsletters.
He would serve Plan as a section commander from 1975 and in 1981 he was promoted to company commander in Ruben ‘Danger’ Ashipala’s special forces Typhoon.
In 1985 Hawala sent Nambwanaga to school in Lubango. He was later sent to the United Nations Institute for Namibia (Unin) to study public administration, until Namibia’s independence.
