Fanuel Jariretundu Kozonguizi (26 January 1932 - 1 February 1995) was a Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

n politician, activist, lawyer and ombudsman. A leading member of the South West African National Union

Biography

Kozonguizi was born in January 1932 in Windhoek

Windhoek

Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level. The 2001 census determined Windhoek's population was 233,529...

. He eventually earned his matric in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in 1953. A year later, he began his career as an activist in Namibia, working to support contract labourers returning to Ovamboland

Ovamboland

Ovamboland was the name given by English-speaking visitors to the land occupied by the Ovambo people in what is now northern Namibia and southern Angola...

. Also in 1954, he formed the South West Africa

South West Africa

South-West Africa was the name that was used for the modern day Republic of Namibia during the earlier eras when the territory was controlled by the German Empire and later by South Africa....

 Students Organization at Fort Hare University. In 1956, Kozonguizi spoke before the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 on the issue of South West Africa along with Reverend Michael Scott

Michael Scott (Reverend)

Reverend Michael Scott was a British anti-Apartheid activist and leading international promoter of Namibian independence along with Chief Hosea Kutako and Captain Hendrik Samuel Witbooi...

, Mburumba Kerina, Hans Beukes

Hans Beukes

Hans Beukes is a Namibian writer and former activist. Beukes was one of the leaders of the Coloured Baster community and one of the earliest petitioners for South West African independence when he traveled to the United Nations in 1956. In order to visit the UN, Beukes had to be smuggled out of...

, Markus Kooper

Markus Kooper

Reverend Markus Kooper was a Namibian activist, educator and religious figure. From Hoachanas in the Hardap Region, Kooper was one of the first Namibians who traveled to the United Nations to petition for his country's independence from apartheid South Africa...

, Sam Nujoma

Sam Nujoma

Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma is a Namibian politician who was the first President of Namibia from 1990 to 2005. He led the South-West Africa People's Organisation in its long struggle against South African rule and took office as President when Namibia obtained independence on 21 March 1990...

, Ismael Fortune, Jacob Kuhangua and Hosea Kutako

Hosea Kutako

Chief Hosea Kutako was an early Namibian nationalist leader and member of the South West African People's Organization. Kutako, alongside Rev. Michael Scott led petitions to the United Nations which eventually led to the recognition of Namibia's status as a sovereign country under colonial control...

 In 1959, he was elected the first President of SWANU, which was the first political party in Namibian history

History of Namibia

The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990....

. He lasted as SWANU's leader until 1966, when Kozonguizi as SWANU leader stressed an ideologically pure commitment to socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 and anti-imperialism

Anti-imperialism

Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking, is a term that may be applied to a movement opposed to any form of colonialism or imperialism. Anti-imperialism includes opposition to wars of conquest, particularly of non-contiguous territory or people with a different language or culture; it also includes...

 which made SWANU unpopular to some in comparison to the other major political party and liberation movement, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). This also led to the 1968 derecognition of SWANU by the Organization of African Unity. After serving as a lawyer in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 for a short time, Kozonguizi returned to Namibia in 1976 as legal advisor to Clemens Kapuuo

Clemens Kapuuo

Clemens Kapuuo was a Namibian school teacher, shopkeeper and chief of the Herero people of Namibia. Kapuuo was one of the leading opponents of South African rule of his country up until his assassination following the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference in March 1978.-Biography:Clemens Kapuuo was...

 and the OvaHerero delegation at the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference

Turnhalle Constitutional Conference

The Turnhalle Constitutional Conference was a controversial conference held in Windhoek between 1975 and 1977, tasked with the development of a constitution for a self-governed Namibia under South African control...

. From 1980 until independence, Kozonguizi served in the internal government of Namibia

Transitional Government of National Unity (Namibia)

The Transitional Government of National Unity was the government of Namibia from June 1985 to February 1989. The TGNU was a puppet government of Apartheid South Africa that sought moderate reform but was unable to secure recognition by the United Nations...

 in various positions, including as the Minister of Justice, Information, Post and Telecommunication from June 1985 onward. Upon independence in 1990, he was appointed to the 1st National Assembly of Namibia as well as national ombudsman

Ombudsman

An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...

, in which capacity he served until his death in February 1995 at the age of 63.