Namibians remember and celebrate Tutu’s life

With the death of archbishop Desmond Tutu, a rich moral library has burnt down and a voice with a clear clarion call has gone silent.

These were some of the remarks of Namibian academic Joseph Diescho that were read at a memorial service for Tutu in Windhoek on Wednesday.

In remarks read on his behalf, Diescho, who is currently in Germany, said Tutu’s “spiritual foresight was extraordinary, his moral and intellectual fortitude formidable, and his commitment to reconciliation and forgiveness was phenomenal”.

Tutu knew no fear or favour, he added.

The service at St Michael Anglican Church in Katutura was attended by hundreds of people.

Diescho recounted that he first met Tutu in the United States in December 1984 and then toured with him as he made speeches which influenced American public opinion while he advocated the imposition of economic sanctions on South Africa because of the country’s apartheid policies.

Diescho also recalled that when he lived in South Africa, he visited the Tutu family’s home in Soweto several times to pray, eat and dance.

“It was impressive to observe him impart knowledge and wisdom to others, regardless of race, class, status, gender or political affiliation,” he said.

Diescho continued: “The world remembers Desmond Tutu as a steadfast crusader in faith and unrelenting in his pursuit of justice for all people, regardless of the colour, shape, or orientation in which God himself formatted them.”

He added that Tutu was a true friend of Namibia.

Reverend Mike Yates of the Anglican Church’s St George’s Cathedral in Windhoek recalled that he first met Tutu when Tutu was the dean of St Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg, where his father, Richard Yates, served as archdeacon.

Tutu was a very pastoral bishop and archbishop even while he managed his national and international role and profile, Yates said.

A funeral service for Tutu is taking place in Cape Town on Saturday, the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation has announced.

Ahead of the funeral, Tutu’s remains will lie in state in St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on Friday.

Tutu, who was an outspoken critic of South Africa’s racial policies when the country was under the rule of a white government, was the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1984.

He died on Sunday at the age of 90.