Ulenga, born in Ontanga, Oshana Region,[1] played an influential role in the independence struggle of Namibia against South African apartheid rule.
[2] He joined the People's Liberation Army of Namibia in 1974 but was later captured after being wounded in combat and sentenced to 15 years in prison, which he spent on Robben Island.
[5] Immediately prior to independence, he was a SWAPO member of the Constituent Assembly, which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990.
[7] He was later appointed as Namibia's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, but in August 1998 he resigned from that post to protest plans to amend the constitution so that president Sam Nujoma could run for a third term; in addition, he expressed dissatisfaction with Namibia's military presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during that country's civil war.
[14] In July 2008, the High Court ruled in favor of the Shixwameni faction, nullifying the May 2007 congress.