Clemens Kapuuo

Clemens Mutuurunge Kapuuo
Born	16 March 1923 Ozondjona za Ndjamo, Okahandja Dist.
Died	27 March 1978 (aged 55) Katutura, Windhoek
Organization	Herero Chiefs Council, National Unity Democratic Organisation, National Convention, Democratic Turnhalle Alliance

Clemens Kapuuo (16 March 1923 – 27 March 1978) 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 until his assassination following the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference.

Clemens Kapuuo was born in 1923 at Ozondjona za Ndjamo (Teufelsbach), in the Okahandja District north of Windhoek and attended school at Okahandja in 1931. In 1937 he went to St Barnabas Anglican Church School in Windhoek's Old Location. He qualified as a teacher at Viljoensdrif, and at the Stoffberg Training College, both in the Orange Free State.

In 1944-1945 he taught at primary schools in Waterberg and Karibib, and in 1946 transferred to St Barnabas where he taught English. From 1950-1953 he was president of the SWA Teachers Association.

He was a member of the founding committee of the South West Africa National Union (SWANU) in 1958. He resigned as a teacher in 1960 when he was appointed deputy chief to Hosea Kutako. The Herero chiefs council also appointed him as the automatic successor to Hosea Kutako, who was then old, as they feared that the South African authorities would try to take advantage of the death of Kutako to impose their own nominee as chief. Kapuuo was also a shopkeeper in the Old Location in Windhoek, and led the opposition to the removal of black people from the Old Location to Katutura in the 1960s.

In 1964 the Herero Chiefs Council withdrew from SWANU, which it had helped to found, and established the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO), so that the council as such would not have to be directly involved in politics. The founding leader was Mburumba Kerina, who had been a founding member of both SWANU and SWAPO, but after disagreements with the chiefs council Kerina was replaced by Kapuuo.

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