New Arrival: A JOURNEY TO EXILE, Keshii Nathanael (Martial Publishing)

Winston Churchill is supposed to have said that history is written by the victors. Namibia's history is no different, and as such many stories are left untold, except this one.

Keshii Nathanael's personal narrative, A Journey to Exile, is a darker story than many uplifting accounts of emancipation from colonisation. It is a story of intrigue and deception, of wholly unexpected alliances, and the brutal power of politics. This book provides an invaluable first-hand account for researchers and readers interested in the political history of southern Africa.

Herewith an extract from the NAMRIGHTS website, originally posted by Confidente Online: 'In his book, Keshii narrated his troubled experience into exile (Angola, Zambia and Tanzania) where he and many others who were against alleged corrupt practices by the SWAPO leadership in exile were exposed to psychological torture, mistrust, atrocities and many years of imprisonment associated with hard labour.

“Exile was not easy. SWAPO leaders were hostile. They were corrupt. They had no constitution that led the party. Leaders slept with young girls and they were drunkards. Many ask us why we ran away from home and from SWAPO. We did not run away. We wanted order within our SWAPO and that did not happen. We condemned injustices and stood up for what was right. SWAPO is responsible for more deaths of Namibians than former armed forces of South Africa”. Keshii also recounted that in a bid to remain sane through his alleged daily torture in a Tanzanian prison, he sang and counted mosquitoes.

Nathanael was the founding president of the Swapo Youth League (SYL) and struggled for the liberation of Namibia before being forced into exile in Sweden.

A Journey to Exile is in stock @ Book Buddy Namibia, 163 Nelson Mandela Avenue, Eros, Windhoek or call +264 61 302 711 or mail bookbuddynamibia@gmail.com

Comments

Children's Story: The Crocodile's Roll (Aboriginal Folklore from Australia)

The oldest human genome outside Africa can be found in the Aborigines of Australia. Scholars estimate that the ancestors of modern Aborigines migrated from Africa more than 70 000 years ago after the earliest human remains discovered in Australia were dated and found to be approximately 50 000 years old. Aboriginal tribes in Australia, similar to African nations, are very different from each other in terms of genetics, customs, cultures and languages. These tribes had evolved into separate and distinct social groups (or, nations to be precise) in isolation for thousands of years so that by the time contact was first made with Europeans, 250 distinct languages were spoken on the Australian continent. European settlement caused a collapse in Aboriginal population sizes. Three years after the arrival of Europeans on the continent, a smallpox epidemic decimated healthy Aboriginal populations causing massive depopulation. The systematic massacre and genocide of Aborigines during colonia...

Poem: I Am An African by Professor Wayne Visser

I Am An African I am an African Not because I was born there But because my heart beats with Africa's I am an African Not because my skin is black But because my mind is engaged by Africa I am an African Not because I live on its soil But because my soul is at home in Africa When Africa weeps for her children My cheeks are stained with tears When Africa honours her elders My head is bowed in respect When Africa mourns for her victims My hands are joined in prayer When Africa celebrates her triumphs My feet are alive with dancing I am an African For her blue skies take my breath away And my hope for the future is bright I am an African For her people greet me as family And teach me the meaning of community I am an African For her wildness quenches my spirit And brings me closer to the source of life When the music of Africa beats in the wind My blood pulses to its rhythm And I become the essence of sound When the ...

So, This is My Story by Theoline Strauss

''Many of you may think I'm doing this to draw attention to myself...so be it.'' When I was a small child, about four or five years old, my uncle used to come to my grandmother's house with his friends to drink alcohol. One day, one of his friends took me into the kitchen, unzipped his pants, took out his ''thing'' and asked me if I knew what it was. I nodded my head because, obviously, I wasn't a baby anymore. He then lifted up my dress and tried to rape me, there, in the kitchen, at the sink. Fortunately, my great-grandmother, who walked with great difficulty, moved from her own into my grandmother's bedroom, he heard her moving about the house, and stopped. He fastened his pants and instructed me not to tell anyone... A year after that incident, a family friend who had stayed for a while with my parents, came to stay at my grandmother's, where I lived. As a small child, I was fascinated by his hair; he had the most beautiful...

BrightLights@BookBuddy

Search This Blog