Ekandjo wants state funeral committee disbanded

Former Cabinet minister and Swapo veteran Jerry Ekandjo wants the committee responsible for recommending burial honours for prominent Namibians disbanded and replaced by ad hoc panels made up of people with extensive knowledge of the deceased and their contribution to the country.

The National Honours Advisory Committee is comprised of 15 members appointed by the president from various sectors including Council of Churches in Namibia, association of Namibian veterans, the Namibia National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Namibia National Youth Council and the National Union of Namibian Workers.

Ekandjo said a permanent committee should not determine whether deceased national figures qualify for honours such as state or heroes’ funerals, arguing that such decisions require people who understand the history and contribution of the individual being considered.

“The committee that recommends the status for burial needs to be disbanded. It cannot be a permanent one,” Ekandjo told Namibian Sun on Tuesday.

“It should be made an ad hoc committee where individuals who knew, have extensive knowledge, history, and contribution of the late can deliberate and discuss on such matters,” he said.

His proposal follows controversy over the burial of liberation struggle veteran Helao Shityuwete, who was accorded a state funeral but buried at Pionierspark Cemetery rather than Heroes’ Acre.

Ekandjo had previously questioned why Shityuwete was not accorded national hero status and has now broadened his concerns to the system used to determine burial honours.

He claimed that during Shityuwete’s memorial service, the family had consented to a Heroes’ Acre burial but was allegedly informed that the committee had determined that Shityuwete was “no hero”.

Ekandjo argues that Shityuwete’s liberation struggle record raises questions about how such decisions are reached and whether those responsible for making recommendations have sufficient knowledge of the people whose status they are considering.

Shityuwete became politically active while working as a contract labourer at the Walvis Bay docks.

He joined the Ovamboland People’s Organisation in 1959 and helped establish its Walvis Bay branch. The organisation was succeeded by Swapo in 1960.

Shityuwete left Namibia in 1964 and later underwent military training in Ghana and Tanzania. He returned in 1966 as part of a group sent to prepare for the armed liberation struggle but was captured near Nkurenkuru.

He was taken to Pretoria, where he was detained and tortured before standing trial alongside other Namibian freedom fighters in the landmark State v Tuhadeleni and 36 Others case.

The men were prosecuted under South Africa’s Terrorism Act of 1967, which was applied against them.

Low-key burial'

Shityuwete was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in 1968 and spent more than 16 years on Robben Island before his release in May 1984.

Among the Namibian political prisoners held on Robben Island were Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, John Pandeni, John ya Otto Nankudhu, Eliaser Tuhadeleni and Gerson Veii. Several were later accorded national hero status and buried at Heroes’ Acre.

Last month, former Cabinet minister Calle Schlettwein also questioned the decision not to bury Shityuwete alongside some of his former comrades at Heroes’ Acre.

“Cde Helao Joseph Shityuwete was honoured with a state funeral, and one appreciates that, but he is a hero.

“He and his fellow Robben Island political prisoners sacrificed the best parts of their lives for us to be free.

That is what heroes are, and I wished he could rest in peace next to his comrades. We salute you,” Schlettwein said at the time.

Ekandjo has also questioned how Shityuwete’s state funeral was conducted, describing it as “low-key”.

He said national flags should have been lowered to half-mast and questioned why a three-day mourning period was not observed.

“For state funerals, the policy is that all flags are supposed to be lowered at half-mast, but this was not done for Shityuwete as a symbol of respect,” he said.

“A three-day mourning period was also supposed to be observed, but this was not done.”

Ekandjo wants President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to explain why Shityuwete’s funeral arrangements differed from those of other liberation struggle veterans who were accorded state and heroes’ funerals.

“Why? What are the reasons for this? Why was this not done as done for his peers who were also accorded state funerals? I am asking this to the President,” he said.

Shityuwete died on 29 August 2026 at the age of 92, four days after his birthday.

Ekandjo wants the mechanism through which burial honours are recommended changed so that each case is considered by people familiar with the deceased’s history rather than by a standing committee.

“Really, this is the first time in the history of Namibia this is happening,” he said.