‘The past four months were difficult for my family’

… father of drowned schoolboy on recovering son’s body

Cornelius Nauyoma, the father of O’Linn Nauyoma (16), who drowned during a school tour last September, says he feels relieved after finally giving his son a decent burial.

Nauyoma was speaking after O’Linn’s funeral at the family’s homestead in the Ohangwena region on Saturday.

“Knowing where his grave is, is much better than not knowing where he was,” he said.

Nauyoma said he struggled with insomnia while praying for his son’s remains to be retrieved, adding that O’Linn was on his mind every day.

Nauyoma commended the education ministry and other actors who worked to retrieve O’Linn’s remains.

O’Linn drowned at Lake Guinas in the Oshikoto region and his remains were retrieved last month by German diver Tom Baier and Namibian diver Chris Steenkamp.

O’Linn’s sister, Oletu Nauyoma, described her younger brother as her parents’ pride. “He was always making my parents proud when he was a top pupil at school, mostly in primary school. I will miss my brother; his voice and laughter making sure he made us all laugh,” she said.

O’Linn’s brother, Herman Nauyoma, said the family is relieved to have closure, and hope the sleepless nights are behind them.

O’Linn’s uncle, Linus Hamunyela, described him as a obedient, helpful and smart child. “Whenever there were new electronics brought at home, he was the one who figured out how they operate and called himself a ‘genius’,” he remembered.

Etosha Secondary School head boy Mathias Martin described O’Linn as polite and humble. “I was a close friend to the late. I wish I could have told him how kind he was.” O’Linn was named after former Namibian judge Bryan O’Linn, who died in 2015.

The Namibian Police’s commander for the Oshikoto region, commissioner Theopoline Nashikaku, says: “We are approaching some stakeholders and the line ministry to declare the lake as a danger zone… We will be putting [in] measures to indicate the distance whereby those visiting the lake will not be allowed to get too close.”