President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says the late struggle icon Kanana Hishoono's life was guided by values of unity, resilience and service, to his nation and the Swapo Party.

Dr Nandi-Ndaitwah says Hishoono understood that freedom fighting was not the work of one individual but a collective sacrifice to achieve an aim - that of independence. 
Her message was read on her behalf by Vice President Lucia Witbooi. 

" We give thanks for a life lived in service, for a voice that spoke with silence, and for a heart that remained loyal to the course for freedom until the very end."

Among the mourners at Onambutu village were former presidents Nangolo Mbumba and Hifikepunye Pohamba, Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare, Swapo Secretary General Sophia Shaningwa, former First Lady Monica Geingos, and Spokesperson of IPC Immanuel Nashinge.

Mourners in their tribute commended the late Hishoono for his role as a Swapo recruiter, having mobilised and recruited many young people into the party and assisted them to go into exile.

Former President Nangolo Mbumba described Hishoono as a model stalwart and gallant son of the soil.
He says Hishoono was a great source of comfort during difficult times of the liberation struggle and a reliable adviser after independence.

"Comrade Hishoono will be remembered as a man of peace and one who fostered unity, a man defined by dignity, compassion and service for his family, service for his party and service for his country."

Hishoono during the apartheid era was imprisoned in Grootfontein, Oshakati, and South Africa.

Swapo Secretary General Sophia Shaningwa says Hishoono was a strategist of note, a political commissar who liked to tell them that Swapo must always be protected.

"His voice has gone silent forever; today we are paying tribute to a man who knew and understood the history and mission placed on his shoulder, which he shouldered without looking back. He had contributed to the elimination of hardships the Namibian people were enduring during the apartheid and colonial regime of the then South Africa."

His children described their father as a peaceful, calm man who never yelled at them; he was an educator, a moving library and a revolutionary teacher.

"Tate was charismatic; he was fun, very firm, and he was always well dressed. He was a very incredible man; he always smelt amazing, recalled daughter Naita Hishoono. .

He is survived by widow Elina Hishoono and seven children.
Hishoono will be buried tomorrow at Eenhana Memorial Shrine in the Ohangwena region.