Soldiers who died on duty remembered

THE day before she died in a car crash, Namibia Defence Force soldier Anna-Lisa Kapweya (49) sent what was to be her last text message to her children, telling them to stay strong and to never forget God.

Kapweya was one of two soldiers who died in a car accident last Wednesday on the Elim-Oshikuku road while on duty. The other deceased has been identified as Musindikizi Luseso (29) from the Zambezi region.

Kapweya and Luseso were part of the team enforcing lockdown regulations countrywide to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus when their vehicle overturned.

Four other passengers in the vehicle survived with serious injuries and have been admitted to the Oshakati State Hospital.

Police inspector general Sebastian Ndeitunga, air marshal Martin Pinehas and chief of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) and commissioner of the Namibian Correctional Services, Raphael Amunyela, visited Kapweya’s family to offer their condolences at their homestead at Omungwelume village in the Ohangwena region on Saturday.

Kapweya’s eldest child, Petrina Kautwima, told The Namibian on Saturday she remembers her mother’s last words to her.

Kautwima said she replied to Kapweya’s last message, saying: “We love you too, mum.”

She said her mother had been posting Biblical verses on her WhatsApp status a week before her death.

A day before the accident, Kautwima said her mother posted the Oshiwambo hymn ‘Jesus Ndikemushakaneke’ (‘I’m going to meet Jesus’).

Kapweya’s aunt, Hileni Naukushu, told The Namibian Kautwima and her siblings are shattered.

“It is very difficult for them. She is all support they had as she was the breadwinner,” Naukushu said.

Kapweya’s family described her as joyful.

Naukushu said they have tried their best to follow the government’s lockdown regulations.

Not more than 10 people may attend funerals during this period.

Pinehas told the family that the country’s president and commander-in-chief of the NDF, Hage Geingob, is also saddened by the death of Kapweya and her colleague Musindikizi Luseso.

Pinehas told the family the NDF finds the sudden death of two colleagues disturbing.

“As soldiers, we leave home every morning with no guarantee that we are coming back, because we work under difficult conditions at times. Your loss is our loss,” he said.

Kapweya will be laid to rest on Tuesday.

She is survived by three children, her father and two grandchildren. could not reach the relatives of the late Luseso.

– tuyeimo@namibian.com.na