Hosea Kutako

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

"During his life, he experienced the transition from independence to colonization, and the destruction of Herero society and the loss of its lands, although he struggled to regain the freedom and self-determination that he and his society had previously known. Initially Kutako campaigned only for his own people, yet at a very early stage he began campaigning for the freedom and self-determination of all the inhabitants of Namibia. In this, Hosea Kutako can be described as the country’s first truly nationalist politician, a man who strove for the greater good not only for himself but for all. Hosea Kutako was born as a Herero royal, but into a position which, but for the course of history, would never have enabled him to claim leadership of the Herero, let alone of the people of Namibia."

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.