Pohamba's secret admirer confession: ‘It was me’

Former president Hifikepunye Pohamba has lost the woman he had once described as the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.In his autobiography, Footprints of Hifikepunye Pohamba, as told to Ellen Namhila, Pohamba recounted how a fellow freedom fighter helped bring them together during the liberation struggle, setting in motion a love story that culminated in their marriage in Angola in 1983.“I first met my wife, Penehupifo Hipangelwa-Shiluwa, affectionately known as Kambosho, in 1975, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,” he wrote.Pohamba was Swapo’s chief representative for East Africa, while Penehupifo, nicknamed Penny, was a trained nurse and was married to fellow freedom fighter Malakia Shiluwa, with whom she had a son, Waldheim.Penehupifo later received a scholarship to Jamaica to specialise in midwifery. Her studies were overshadowed by the death of her husband in combat in Angola in July 1979.Unable to return to mourn him, she remained abroad before eventually returning to Angola in 1981.Pohamba wrote that his interest in Penehupifo developed through an unexpected exchange of letters with Claudia Kamati, a comrade who had worked with him in Dar es Salaam and was studying alongside Penehupifo in Jamaica.Having confided in Kamati that he wanted to marry but was struggling to find a suitable partner, Pohamba received a suggestion that would change his life – that he should consider Penehupifo, the widow of Malakia Shiluwa.“When I read Claudia’s letter, I started thinking of Penehupifo, the Kambosho whom I met at different times, without thinking about the possibility of having a relationship with her,” he recalled.Pohamba wrote to Penehupifo, telling her that a comrade was interested in her without revealing that he was, in fact, her admirer.Penehupifo asked why the man's identity was being concealed, but Pohamba was not yet ready to disclose his feelings.In mid-1982, Pohamba arrived in Luanda and learnt that Penehupifo was working at the Namibia health and education centre in Kwanza-Sul.He arranged a visit to inspect the centre's facilities and services for Namibian refugees, although seeing Penehupifo was also an important part of his mission.After addressing a parade at the camp, he asked to be taken to her home, where he finally found the courage to reveal her secret admirer's identity.“The person I mentioned in my letter to you in Jamaica was myself. I am the person with an interest in you,” he told her.Penehupifo, surprised by the revelation, asked: “Why couldn’t you just say so in the letter?”Although Pohamba admitted that he had struggled to express his feelings in writing, the encounter left him delighted and hopeful about their future.“I returned to Luanda, a very happy man. My heart was bursting with joy,” he wrote.East BerlinTheir relationship developed through regular correspondence, and Pohamba eventually proposed marriage.However, his hopes of marrying Penehupifo were interrupted when she was selected to attend a party school in the German Democratic Republic.Despite his disappointment, he understood her desire to reunite with her son, Waldheim, who had been sent to the East Germany following his father's death.“I patiently waited for her return,” he wrote.Their separation was briefly interrupted in December 1982 when Pohamba travelled to East Berlin on an official Swapo assignment and reunited with Penehupifo, further strengthening his determination to marry her.When she returned to Luanda in June 1983, Penehupifo temporarily moved into his residence while awaiting reassignment, giving them an opportunity to spend more time together.Pohamba described this period as a chance to “build, nurture, appraise and value” their relationship.“My mind was made up. I felt ready to formalise our relationship and to spend the rest of my life with her,” he wrote.He had already confided in close comrades Peter Nanyemba and Hidipo Hamutenya that he had found “the woman of my dreams”, and both encouraged him to marry rather than fall into what he called the “kwata”, or the trap of tomorrow-tomorrow.The couple initially planned to marry on 18 August 1983, Pohamba's birthday, but brought the wedding forward by a day because Hamutenya, who was to serve as best man, had another Swapo commitment.Marriage in exileThey married on 17 August 1983 at a Swapo transit camp outside Luanda, choosing a modest ceremony rather than the elaborate celebration some comrades had expected from Pohamba, who was then Swapo's secretary for finance.Some guests were disappointed when they arrived at the couple's home expecting a reception, only to discover that tea was all that was being served.However, the occasion was never about entertaining guests but about beginning a life with the woman he loved.“I did not mind them because all I wanted was to share my life with someone special; someone I loved and cared about,” Pohamba wrote.Marriage brought happiness, but the demands of the liberation struggle continued to complicate their family life.Penehupifo remained involved in nursing and midwifery at Kwanza-Sul while Pohamba worked in Luanda, and their responsibilities often kept them apart.With family members scattered across Angola, Zambia, Germany and Namibia, bringing everyone together under one roof remained a challenge.Their first son together, Tulongeni Tutungeni Tuhafeni Tulyeni Tudanaukeni ya Hifikepunye Pohamba, was born on 9 April 1984, an occasion Pohamba remembered with particular affection.“Kambosho gave me the most valuable gift, a son, born in our marital union,” he wrote.Their daughter, Kaupumote, followed in May 1988, as Namibia's liberation struggle entered its final years.

Pohamba's secret admirer confession: ‘It was me’

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-21

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Pohamba's secret admirer confession: ‘It was me’

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-21

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