Mbulunganga dies

ONGWEDIVA, 04 DEC  – A pioneer commander in the defunct Swapo military wing, the People Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), Matias ‘Mbulunganga’ Ndakolo has died in the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital on Tuesday.
He was 75.

Confirming Ndakolo’s death to Nampa the same day his young sister, Rauna Ndakolo, said that he passed away between 01h00 and 02h00 due to prolonged illness over a three-week period.

He was born at Iilagati village in the Ohangwena Region in 1943, and he lived at a nearby village, Eenghango, in the same region.

His brother in arms and retired Namibian Police Force (NamPol) Commander in the Oshana Region, Commissioner Elisa Haulyondjaba told this news agency that Ndakolo was already a PLAN commander when he met him on the eastern front in Zambia in 1969.

“I was told when I met Mbulunganga that he just returned from Mungu Hospital in Zambia where he received medical treatment after he was bitten by a dangerous Tsetse fly, which I believe is the cause of his long time illness,” stated Haulyondjaba, who is also a pioneer PLAN fighter.

According to Haulyondjaba, Ndakolo returned from exile along other freedom fighters in 1989. He has been ailing since his return to Namibia at the dawn of the country’s freedom and independence.

Former President Hifikepunye Pohamba conferred him a honorary military rank of colonel in the Namibia Defence Force during the Heroes’ Day Commemoration held at Eenhana in the Ohangwena Region in 2007. – NAMIBIA