A leader in the making

Tunohole Mungoba

Maximilliant Katjimune is a second-year Bachelor of Arts (BA) student specialising in political science and sociology at the University of Namibia (Unam).

In addition, he is a youth activist, student leader, youth politician and Unam Radio presenter.

Katijimune is also an incoming member of the 2019 Unam Student Representative Council (SRC) and will take charge of the information and publicity portfolio. He is also currently the representative for the faculty of humanities and social sciences at Unam.

He is also the spokesperson for the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) Youth League.

“I was born in Usakos, but was raised and bred in Windhoek, so I can say that I am a ‘Windhoeker’. I attended Namibia English Primary School in Katutura, and then went on to attend Jan Möhr Secondary School,” he said.

During his high school career, he also served as the branch chairperson of the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso) from 2015 to 2016.

“I served on the Nanso Khomas regional executive committee under the leadership of the unwavering Simon Amunime and the likes of Shoki Kandjimi, Oscar Shikongo and Oscar Mwandingi,” he said.

According to Katijimune, he already knew what he wanted to study from a young age.

“I had told my family that I would either study law or political science, or something else in the humanities and social sciences department. So coming from a black family, I obviously chose law as my first choice, and political science and sociology as my second,” he explained. “However, there was a complication with my first choice, so I went with political science and sociology as my second choice.”

Katijimune said he does not regret his choice, as politics was always his first love.

“I have really learned a lot and met a lot of great people through my course. Political science is about governance, democracy, public policy, public law, international relations and political theory, while sociology is more about how society operates, the development of society, public health, gender and sexuality, political sociology and human relationships and interactions,” he said.

Katijimune says he stopped playing with toys in grade 3 and switched watching CNN.

“It is for this reason that people in my family and community gave me the nickname ‘KK’, referring to politician Kazenambo Kazenambo. Apparently I had the same approach and aggression as him, and the gap tooth. Basically politics is my life, and my life is politics.”

Radio experience

Besides his love and passion for politics, Katijimune also enjoys radio. “My experience on radio has been fantastic. Radio is such a phenomenal tool, not only for communication, but also for personal growth. I was a bit shy behind the microphone when I started, but I am a pro now. So I encourage all Unam students to tune into ‘Truth be Told’ every Monday to Thursday from 18:00 to 21:00, only on 97.4 FM.”

One of his goals as SRC secretary for information and publicity is to transform Campus Vision - a monthly campus publication - as the editor.

“We would like to commercialise Campus Vision, which really puts extra pressure on my team, because we will have to reform the content to make it a commercially viable paper. Basically, at the end of my term, Campus Vision has to be the face of Unam and a reflection of student life at Unam.”

Speaking about his plans for the next five years, Katijimune said: “After I am done with my degree, I would like to be a researcher at parliament, while also continuing to actively participate in politics. I also hope to enrol for law or alternatively pursue a masters of arts in political science or political economy. As they say, the future belongs to those who live in it. I am only 20 years old, so I am taking it one step and a time and evaluating all my options.”

Quick facts about Maximalliant:

· Favourite food: Any meal that comes with meat.

· Favourite song: ‘Chelete’ by Gazza.

· Favourite hangout spot in Windhoek: Bandits in town, as it is a really good place to hang out if you are not into clubs.

· Motto he lives by: ‘Challenge the questionable’.

· Namibian he looks up to: On a personal level, his older brother Charles Katjimune and sister-in-law Cesilie Katjimune. They have impacted on his life in a momentous ways and haver defined who he is today. On a political level, it is McHenry Venaani.

· What superpower would he choose and why: The power to fly. No one has time to drive around anymore.

· The last book he has read: Classical Sociology, second edition, by Michael Kimmel.

· Winter or summer: A bit of both.