Ya Toivo returned to Namibia in 1989 in the wake of the country's independence and served as a member of parliament and as cabinet minister in Sam Nujoma's first government.

[3] In 1942 during World War II Ya Toivo voluntarily joined the Native Military Corps, a unit of the racially segregated army of the Union of South Africa.

I volunteered to face German bullets, and as a guard of military installations, both in South West Africa and the Republic, was prepared to be the victim of their sabotage.

Toivo taught at St Cuthberth's School at Onamutayi and St. Mary's Odibo before travelling to South Africa for further studies in 1951.

He became the deputy chairman of the MYS, which organised festivals, lectures, discussion groups and night schools for activists who pursued further education.

The OPC sought to fight for the rights of migrant workers, some of whom had defected from the South West African Native Labour Association (SWANLA).

Consequently, he was deported from Cape Town, first to Keetmanshoop and Windhoek and later to Ovamboland, where he was placed under house arrest in his home village Okaloko.

[10] Toivo stayed in constant close contact with Leonard Auala from the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC).

Because of OPO's deep roots in the Ovambo people, ELOC subsequently gave its support to this national liberation movement.

Eliaser Tuhadeleni, Nathaniel Maxuilili amongst other members of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), the armed military wing of SWAPO, were tried in the first trial under South Africa's Terrorism Act of 21 June 1967.

His speech from the dock made headlines and became an internationally circulated key document to rally support for the Namibian liberation struggle.

[17][1] In the advent of Namibia's independence, a showdown was expected between Sam Nujoma, who had spent many years in exile, and Toivo, incarcerated at Robben Island.

[19] After over three years in that position, he was appointed as Minister of Prisons and Correctional Services on 27 August 2002, switching posts with Marco Hausiku.

[20] He remained Minister of Prisons for the remainder of the legislative period but chose not to run for a seat in the National Assembly again at the time of the 2004 election, saying that he had "done enough".

This was attributed to Toivo's purported link to the opposition Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), a party that had been founded as a split from SWAPO shortly before the congress.

After retiring from active politics, Toivo devoted his time to his wife, Vicki Erenstein, an American labor lawyer, and two daughters, Mutaleni and Nashikoto, and ran various businesses.