Obituary: Axali Doëseb, composer of our school anthem

As parents, teachers and learners of !Aimablaagte Primary School, many of us did not know Axali Doëseb personally, but that does not lessen the pain we felt losing a man of his stature – the composer of our school anthem.Axali arrived to occupy the space amongst our school community at a time when we were embedding the identity of the new school in Mariental.We succeeded in jointly deciding on a school uniform, the school logo, and an emblem, but had difficulty identifying a composer.It was in July, when our chairperson proposed Axali as the composer of our school anthem – an honour he humbly accepted – that our five-month journey with the eminent musician started.Unbeknownst to us, it was at a time that he was slowly walking into the sunset, but his farsightedness allowed him to complete the composition of our school anthem.&#039;Running the race with endurance&#039;To our knowledge, our school anthem marked the 22nd and last composition of this great musician – Namibia’s best.Undoubtedly, Axali, through his music, invoked the emotions of pain, joy, grief, empowerment, and, at times, simple fun.But more importantly, he moved us to march for justice, peace and the right to self-determination, which brought about independence.Axali was gifted to precisely describe a place or emotion through his lyrics; it’s like watching a movie. In &#039;Run the Race with Endurance&#039; he described conditions after the floods in Mariental.“When floods block the way to knowledge and there’s no bridge over the damage, run the race with endurance”.As the repositories of Axali Doëseb’s legacy, we will, with bravery, through our academic, cultural, and sports performances, honour the composer of Namibia&#039;s national anthem, &#039;Namibia, Land of the Brave&#039;.We treasured your reaction when we WhatsApp’d you the rendition of your final composition.“So good! Thank you, Mr. Conductor. My huge appreciation for leading the parents and the kids. Super!”We last spoke on Saturday, the 21st of this month, to inform you about our inauguration plans.Sadly, for us, your promise to arrive two days before the inauguration to rehearse the songs with us will not materialise, but we take consolation in the fact that you had approved Ambrosius #Nuseb to complete your assignment.As agreed, we will unveil the school anthem, emblem, uniform, patron, anthem composer, board, teachers, learners, vision, mission and value statement when we inaugurate the school during the first term in 2024.We will eternalise your contribution as one of the founding fathers of !APS posthumously.Axali, in bidding you farewell, we will stand together in mourning you, not only for what you gave us when you were here, but to remain true to our identity. Go well, humble soul.Anwar Abdullah ThomasOn behalf of !Aimablaagte Primary School

Obituary: Axali Doëseb, composer of our school anthem

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Namibian Sun 2026-07-22

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Obituary: Axali Doëseb, composer of our school anthem

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Namibian Sun 2026-07-22

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