President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah yesterday honoured 16-year-old Kornelius Tulotokela Shimuafeni with the Most Distinguished Order of Namibia, Third Class.

It did not end there.

Shimuafeni also received N$200 000 from the State for his heroic deeds that awoke nationhood and unity earlier this year.  

He risked his life to rescue nine-month-old twins from a pond in the Omusati region, using his bravery to remind Namibians that heroism is no longer only about the sacrifices made during the liberation struggle.

Shimuafeni, a Grade 7 learner at Ebenezer Private Secondary School, received the national honour yesterday during the Heroes’ Day commemoration in Windhoek after he entered the water to save the two infants, despite not knowing how to swim.

The teenager was herding cattle when he witnessed the mother throw the twins into a pond at Omutundungu. Without hesitation, he entered the water and rescued both children after their mother had walked away.

His decision to put his own life at risk deeply impressed the President.

When asked why he was willing to risk his life for the children, Shimuafeni gave a simple answer: “If they were to die, I would rather die with them.”

Nandi-Ndaitwah said those words represented the kind of courage that Namibia needs from the generation born after independence.

“Who is the hero in Namibia today?” the President asked, before explaining that heroism in a free Namibia should not be limited to people who fought in the liberation struggle.

“What does colonialism demand from us here in a free Namibia?” she asked.

“During the liberation struggle, heroism often demanded confronting colonial forces, enduring imprisonment, going into exile, taking up arms, or resisting an unjust system. But what does heroism demand of us in a free Namibia?

“Must someone perform an extraordinary act before we recognise the hero among us? Perhaps not. Perhaps heroes continue to walk quietly among us every day without our knowing,” she said.

She said heroes do not always have to be people who receive medals or appear in newspaper headlines.

“There might be quiet heroes who are among us, who are free to be known, or who will not even be known until they depart,” she said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah listed mothers who work to support their families, fathers who take responsibility for their children, older siblings who sacrifice their comfort for younger brothers and sisters, teachers who refuse to give up on struggling learners, nurses who continue caring for patients despite exhaustion and farmers who continue producing food despite difficult conditions.

“Nations are built solely by the great actions that the people remember. They are also built through millions of quiet acts of kindness, responsibility, loyalty and sacrifice,” she said.

It was in this context that the president elevated Shimuafeni’s rescue from a local act of bravery to a national example of modern heroism.

“As history is in the making, today is a living testimony where we recognise courage that continues to live among us. It is my distinct honour to confer hero status on Kornelius Tulotokela Shimuafeni, a 16-year-old from Omutundungu village in the Omusati region.

“Kornelius acted on behalf of all Namibians without hesitation and saved the lives of our 9-month-old twins, who had been thrown into a water pond on 17 May 2026. He did not wake up that morning knowing that his courage would be tested. He did not act because cameras were watching. He did not act in expectation of recognition or reward. He saw human lives in danger, and he acted,” she justified.

The official citation for the award described his actions as demonstrating exceptional courage, selflessness, compassion, responsibility and respect for human life. It recognised his decision to rescue the two infants even though he could not swim.

The President said the young learner had responded to the moment when two lives depended on his courage.

“[Kornelius] answered the call when two lives depended on this courage,” she said.

The significance of the award therefore went beyond recognising one teenager. Nandi-Ndaitwah said the generation that fought for Namibia’s political freedom had fulfilled its historical responsibility by delivering independence and sovereignty. The responsibility of the current generation, she said, is to protect that freedom and build a better country.

She identified unemployment, violence, inequality, corruption, institutional inefficiency, hunger and homelessness as some of the challenges facing Namibia today.

“The enemies before us might no longer wear military uniforms, but they are no less real,” she said.

According to the President, these challenges require the same spirit of courage and sacrifice demonstrated by the country’s liberation heroes but expressed differently.

“A hero is not simply someone remembered for how they died. A hero is also someone remembered for how they lived, whom they served, and what they sacrificed and what they left behind for others,” she said.

Finance Minister Ericah Shafudah also announced that the government is in consultation with the family to establish a trust for Shimuafeni.

A day earlier, Nandi-Ndaitwah conferred national hero honours on more than 1 000 liberation struggle veterans and independence contributors. On Monday, the remains of six national heroes were reburied at Heroes’ Acre.

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