Peter Katjavivi, December 14, 1999
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2013-06-06
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The interview was recorded in Yale University, New Haven, CT,on December 14, 1999.The Interviewer was Jean Krasno.
At an early age, Peter Katjavivi became involved with Namibian independence from South Africa. He left Namibia in 1962 and worked for the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) while continuing his education. In 1968, he became the SWAPO Deputy Representative in Tanzania. The same year, he opened a SWAPO Office and became the Chief Representative in London. Mr. Katjavivi became the SWAPO Secretary for Legal and Economic Affairs in 1969. In 1988, watching the independence of his home country unfold from abroad, he was recruited by the United Nations to sensitize and educate United Nations Transition Assistant Group (UNTAG) members on the political and cultural environment of Namibia. From 1993 to 1997, he was a member of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In 2002, he was appointed his country's Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union, and in 2006, became the Ambassador to Germany.
Serving as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Namibia at the time of the interview, on 14 December 1999, Mr. Katjavivi shares his personal accounts of his involvement in SWAPO during Namibia's independence and evaluates United Nations assistance in that process.
Keywords
Peter Katjavivi, SWAPO, SWANU, Namibians tried in Pretoria, Thabo Mbeke, ANC movement, The Western Five