SWAPO veteran gets standing ovation at AFDA graduation ceremony

6 April, 2016 - 07:57

The AFDA Johannesburg 2016 Graduation ceremony was treated to a cacophonous and thoroughly deserved standing ovation when 60 year old Namibian student, Ueshitile Peyolo Shkupe, strutted on to stage to receive his Bachelors of Arts Degree in Motion Medium Picture.

The Linden Auditorium's acoustics were stretched to the limits as were the wide- open gleeing smiles of the 1000 students, lecturers, families and guests in the auditorium. Ueshitile's walk from his seat to the stage may have been a short and glorious one, but the road to get there was a long and hard one.

Ueshitile voluntarily joined the Liberation Struggle of Namibia in 1974 and was trained as a soldier in exile in Kongwa in Tanzania and served in in the SWAPO Wing: People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) where he served for 15 under the leadership of SWAPO. While in exile, he was one of the founder members and leaders of Ndilimani Cultural troupe of SWAPO. The duty/tasks of the troupe was to mobilise the worlds awareness on the importance of our liberation struggle. As a child-soldier, he had no opportunity to formally study his specialization in the field of arts and culture.

I have worked with Ueshitile Shekupe during our years of struggle of independence of Namibia, when I voluntarily joined the liberation struggle from my country of origin, to train young Namibians in the field of music, drama, poetry and dance. He became then the leader of the created cultural Troupe after training. He dedicated his life to this endeavor, and together we toured the entire world, to mobilize the international opinion in order to speed up the implementation of the United Nations 345 resolution for the independence of Namibia. He sacrificed his education at the time to do just that. Says Tsoubaloko Francois Haipinge, Senior lecturer at University of Namibia.

Ueshitile returned to Namibia in 1989 after the Namibian elections and Independence victory. Although he was a professional artist Ueshitile could not be employed because he lacked formal academic qualifications. He enrolled at the Zimbabwean College of Music where he acquired a Diploma in Ethnomusicology. Upon completion of his diploma in 1995, he was employed by College of the Arts in Namibia in the Directorate of Arts as a music, drama and dance lecturer. Positions of head of department and Deputy-Director were advertised at the College of the Arts but Ueshitile could not qualify for these positions due to lack of degree academic qualification.

He decided to enrol as a film student at AFDA Johannesburg in 2013 and received his BA degree in Motion Medium Picture in 2016 at the ripe age of 60.

I wish to leave an unforgetable legacy behind for the generations of Namibians and Africans to come. I want to write a book on the Namibian traditional music, dance and story-telling in 2016. I am optimistic that I can contribute enormously to the development of the Arts & Film Industry in Namibia as I have done for the African Performing Arts program at the Namibian College of the Arts, who have now been accredited by the Namibia Qualification Authority (NQA). says a proud and humble Ueshitile

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