Exile biography and un-national history: the story of Kaufilwa Nepelilo

Abstract

In the history of Namibia's liberation struggle, Kaufilwa Nepelilo's story is largely unintelligible. As one of hundreds of contract laborers to leave Namibia during the early 1960s in search of opportunities in postcolonial Tanzania, Nepelilo soon found himself living at Kongwa, the site of the first guerrilla camp granted to the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) and other liberation movements then supported by the Organization of African Unity. A reluctant "freedom fighter" at best, Nepelilo's account of life at Kongwa focuses not on preparations to liberate Namibia from colonialism but rather on escalating tensions between rank-in-file guerrillas and the camp command. Nepelilo's story is not a well-worn "dissident" narrative either, however. In contrast to this narrative, which introduces Kongwa in the context of SWAPO's 1968 "Kongwa Crisis," Nepelilo focuses on the inequities of camp daily life over seven years. Moreover, he highlights other personal experiences...