‘I have lost a life partner and soulmate’ - Stella Kapere
NAMPA
WINDHOEK
In an emotional tribute, the wife of the late Swapo parliamentarian Mandela Kapere, Stella Tomas Kapere, said she has lost a life partner and a soulmate.
The Swapo MP and former National Youth Council executive chairperson was laid to rest on Saturday at the Pionierspark cemetery in Windhoek.
Kapere (38) died from Covid-19 complications on 7 December while receiving medical care at his home in Windhoek.
In a tribute read on her behalf during Kapere’s memorial service held at Parliament Gardens on Friday, Stella said he left without any warning.
“How does one bid farewell to someone who did not say goodbye; how does one say farewell and pay tribute to someone they expect to walk through the door any time,” she said.
She further lamented that she did not want to be a single mother, neither to be called a widow but vowed to be strong for their two children.
“I do not want to be alone but more than that I do not want to live with anyone else. But I find comfort and strength from the Holy Scriptures and remembering how you (Kapere) loved and respected me,” said Stella.
The couple first met in Algeria.
“We celebrated our 10th anniversary in March 2020 and we were looking forward to many more years to come. We had so many plans for ourselves and for our children but God had a different plan. It is painful that my beloved who brought me here from Mozambique left me without any homage that he was going away, never to return,” the widow said.
Tribute
In a speech delivered on his behalf, President Hage Geingob said that grief is not a life sentence but rather a life passage and one human experience that has to be shared at one time or the other.
“Sometimes we feel overburdened by grief, and although it is not a life sentence, for this moment at least, we are prisoners of grief. For what greater pain is there for a nation than that of losing one of its foremost sons. In the passing of Comrade Mandela Kapere, we have lost one of our brightest stars, a gentle giant and an irreplaceable young leader,” Geingob said.
WINDHOEK
In an emotional tribute, the wife of the late Swapo parliamentarian Mandela Kapere, Stella Tomas Kapere, said she has lost a life partner and a soulmate.
The Swapo MP and former National Youth Council executive chairperson was laid to rest on Saturday at the Pionierspark cemetery in Windhoek.
Kapere (38) died from Covid-19 complications on 7 December while receiving medical care at his home in Windhoek.
In a tribute read on her behalf during Kapere’s memorial service held at Parliament Gardens on Friday, Stella said he left without any warning.
“How does one bid farewell to someone who did not say goodbye; how does one say farewell and pay tribute to someone they expect to walk through the door any time,” she said.
She further lamented that she did not want to be a single mother, neither to be called a widow but vowed to be strong for their two children.
“I do not want to be alone but more than that I do not want to live with anyone else. But I find comfort and strength from the Holy Scriptures and remembering how you (Kapere) loved and respected me,” said Stella.
The couple first met in Algeria.
“We celebrated our 10th anniversary in March 2020 and we were looking forward to many more years to come. We had so many plans for ourselves and for our children but God had a different plan. It is painful that my beloved who brought me here from Mozambique left me without any homage that he was going away, never to return,” the widow said.
Tribute
In a speech delivered on his behalf, President Hage Geingob said that grief is not a life sentence but rather a life passage and one human experience that has to be shared at one time or the other.
“Sometimes we feel overburdened by grief, and although it is not a life sentence, for this moment at least, we are prisoners of grief. For what greater pain is there for a nation than that of losing one of its foremost sons. In the passing of Comrade Mandela Kapere, we have lost one of our brightest stars, a gentle giant and an irreplaceable young leader,” Geingob said.
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