This came at the time when Imperial Germany had just begun to colonise the area and to establish German South-West Africa.
He was one of the first Namibians to support and spread this idea and helped to set up the Windhoek office of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1922.
[2] In April 1946,[1] the South African administration of South-West Africa held a referendum among the indigenous population to gather support for an incorporation of the area as its fifth province.
The referendum was worded in a deceiving way, offering choices "to join the Chinese, the Russians, or even the British",[2] blurring the real issue of surrendering their territory to the South Africans.
Nikanor Hoveka and Hosea Kutako were the first to petition the United Nations about this issue.