Hosea Kutako

Hosea Katjikururume Komombumbi Kutako (1870 – 18 July 1970) was a Namibian nationalist leader and traditional ruler who was a founding member of the South West African National Union, Namibia's first nationalist party. He was also paramount chief of the Herero people and chairman of the Herero Chiefs' Council, which he founded in 1945.

Kutako was one of the earliest nationalist leaders in Namibia and has been regarded as the "father of modern Namibian nationalism." He spearheaded the country's modern independence movement by petitioning the United Nations directly and through Rev. Michael Scott. Together with Nikanor Hoveka, he was among the first to petition the UN. Kutako also mentored many future leaders, including Clemens Kapuuo, Fanuel Kozonguizi, and Sam Nujoma, among others. The seat of his chieftaincy was situated at the settlement of Toasis in the Aminuis area.

Early life Hosea Kutako was born into a royal Herero family in 1870 at Okahurimehi, near present-day Kalkfeld.

Chieftaincy and political career In 1920, Hosea Kutako was officially appointed paramount chief of the Herero people by Frederik Maharero. Maharero had been empowered to transfer power by his father, Herero chief Samuel Maharero, who had been exiled after the Herero War and was since banned from entering the country by the South African Mandatory Administration. Hosea Kutako took over his role as a commitment to preserve the memory of the Herero before and during the German colonisation as well as of the Battle of Waterberg. The aftermath of this battle was recognised in 2004 by Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's development aid minister, as being equivalent to genocide.

Also in 1920, he founded the Green Flags, an association to keep up tradition, and went on to found the Red Flags in 1923, after Samuel Maharero's death. Kutako prompted and organised the transfer of Samuel Maharero's body and its funeral on Okahandja next to the grave of Jonker Afrikaner. Kutako also founded the Truppenspieler association. It was intended to attain military importance, but this was opposed by the South African authorities. Kutako is honoured in form of a granite tombstone with his name engraved and his portrait plastered onto the slab.