WINDHOEK: A number of speakers heaped praise on the late Swanu of Namibia stalwart Karupumbura Veii at a memorial service held in his honour at the Inner City Evangelical Church here on Thursday.

“I believe that the best dedication one can give a departed revolutionary is to live by his ideals,” said former Swanu president Rihupisa Kandando, who spoke in great detail about Veii’s life.

Karupumbura Veii died of natural causes at his home at around 05h00 on Sunday morning, 05 August. He will be laid to rest at the Pionierspark Cemetery in the capital on Saturday.

He was born at Otjimanangombe in Epukiro on 16 September 1949 to Justus Veii and Annethe Tjikuzu Veii, and grew up in Omaruru with his aunt Adelheid Veii Mbuaondjou.

It was also in Omaruru where he attended most of his primary schooling before returning to Epukiro as a 15-year-old boy.

“Historians and those who were close to him remind us of his unwavering commitment to the independence struggle by having served as leader to the Swanu youth league from 1977 to 1980,” Kandando said.

Because of his desire to pursue other methods of the struggle, Karupumbura Veii left for Cyprus and Germany from 1980 to 1983 with a contingent of Swanu revolutionary cadres.

Here, they tried to resuscitate Swanu amongst the Cypriots and Germans, Kandando recalled.

The contingent succeeded in producing a Swanu Journal in the Middle East – this after the party was expelled in 1968 from the Afro-Asian People’s Organisation in Cyprus for “denouncing co-habitation with imperialism under the guise of peaceful co-existence.”

The former Swanu president said he could ‘testify in affirmation and without any fear’ that Veii was a character with attributes that were ‘not necessarily guided by dialectical inevitability of the revolution’, and was someone who was a “conscious revolutionary and action-oriented.”

“In other words, he did not wish that revolution will come on its own, but believed that revolution should be brought about by individuals,” Kandando stated.

Echoeing similar sentiments was DTA Secretary-General McHenry Venaani, who delivered a message of condolences on behalf of his party. He too believed that the best dedication one could give a departed revolutionary is to live by his ideals.

“I have great respect for the late Karupumbura Veii for contributing to the leading of Swanu, even when at times the party was going through difficult times. He dedicated his life to the course of Swanu, and I will always remember him for that,” Venaani remembered.

He said it is now up to the youth to follow in the footsteps of Veii.

On his part, National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) representative Sam Kauapirura described the late Veii as a ‘champion’ of Swanu.

“I remember how he would regularly challenge me every time we met on why I belong to Nudo. He would even go to the extent of enticing me to join Swanu,” Kauapirura noted, before adding that Veii’s contribution to the liberation struggle “will definitely be recorded in national history.”

The late Karupumbura Veii leaves behind his wife Angela Veii, six children and 11 grandchildren.