Namibia: Mukwe Pensioner Frederick Mangimba Keeps Tradition Alive Through Wood Carving in Kavango East

21 December 2025

Frederick Mangimba, an elderly resident of Mukwe constituency in the Kavango East region, supplements his old age pension grant through traditional wood carving from a workshop beneath a tree at his homestead.

From Shadikongoro Teya village, he carves wooden posts and stirring sticks, which he sells to local buyers and travellers passing through the area.

Mangimba says only the rain can move him from his work station.

He adds that he learnt the skill from his father while living in exile in the 1970s at Mashiland, Zambia's Western Province, where they fled to avoid war between Swapo People's Liberation Army of Namibia fighters and the South African regime during the occupation of South West Africa.

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