Education
Educated first at mission school at Keetmanshoop then, when his family moved to the capital, at St Barnabas’ School, Windhoek.
Educated first at mission school at Keetmanshoop then, when his family moved to the capital, at St Barnabas’ School, Windhoek.
After leaving school he took a job as a clerk at the municipal offices in Windhoek and continued his studies at night school. In 1952 he set himself up as a small businessman with a general stores shop in Windhoek. Trade expanded to give him a lucrative business but instead of accepting a modest role in the Windhoek establishment he turned to politics in 1962. He resented the conditions imposed upon contract labourers and joined SWAPO. Within two years he was chairman, keeping the party together on the right side of the law after firebrands such as SWAPO president Sam Nujoma and vice-president Mishake Muyongo took refuge abroad.
On March 9, 1972, Meroro managed to push through the police barrier at Windhoek airport and put the SWAPO case to Dr Kurt Waldheim, United Nations Secretary-General. Alongside Herero Chief Clemens Kapuuo he took part in three-hour talks in the VIP lounge to stress the hardships of the African labourers in the Katatura compound.
Quiet, soft-spoken, low-profile leader of the African nationalist movement in Windhoek, who accepts the limitations of the situation and leaves the strident protest campaign to the exiled radicals of the liberation struggle. Respected by all Africans, he is the rallying point for the oppressed in South-West Africa who wait in hope for deliverance from outside.