Tribute to a humble legend
Tribute to a humble legend

Tribute to a humble legend

Mandy Rittmann
PHIL YA NANGOLOH WRITES:

I say, comrades, today was one of the special days in this here Phil ya Nangoloh’s personal history. This day being October 21, 2017, will be known as the day when I, for the first time ever, met Cde Dirk Frederik Mudge (89), one of the founding fathers of our Republic and founder of the Republican Party (RP) of Namibia.

Cde Samson Ndeikwila was by my side during this fascinating historic encounter with this legendary and exemplary Namibian statesman. Cde Dirk Mudge has a very humble beginning.

Cde Mudge’s ancestors originated in Western Transvaal in South Africa and migrated to then South West Africa (now Namibia) after World War I (WW1). He was the first ever person from the Mudge family to be born in Namibia on Farm Rusthof in the Otjiwarongo District on January 16, 1928. Seven of his uncles from his mother’s side fought in WW1 as part of the British Union of South African Defence Force which defeated the German Defence Force near Otavi on July 9, 1915.

Cde Mudge has a fascinating political career having been one of the leading white Namibian patriots who rejected apartheid and who campaigned for Namibian independence from South Africa. On several occasions he and his family were called derogatory names such as “kaffir boetie” especially when he introduced in the National Assembly the Abolition of Racial Discrimination Act 1979. Die-hard white racists from all over Namibia marched on Windhoek where they staged demonstrations against Cde Mudge and his anti-apartheid white Namibian colleagues.

His campaign for a non-racial and independent Namibia took him to several African and other countries where he met with several dignitaries such as Houphouet Boigny of Ivory Coast and Kenneth David Kaunda of Zambia.

After his retirement from active politics, Cde Mudge continued to make valuable contributions to the well being of his people and this includes building a state of the art primary school for disadvantaged children at Etunda Village near Ruacana in the Omusati Region.

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