About the Author
More By Djehuti
Chief General Mathias L. Wenda | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Mathias L. Wenda |
| Born | 1921 West Papua |
| Died | April 12, 2025 (aged 103–104) Central Headquarters, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea |
| Cause of death | Illness and old age |
| Buried | Yako Village, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea |
| Allegiance | West Papua |
| Service | West Papua Army (WPA) |
| Years of service | 1966–2025 |
| Rank | Chief General (Five Star General) |
| Service number | A.001076 |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief, West Papua Army (WPA) |
| Known for | West Papuan independence movement leadership |
| Conflicts | West Papuan independence struggle |
Mathias L. Wenda (1921 – April 12, 2025[1]) was a West Papuan military leader who served as Chief General and Commander-in-Chief of the West Papua Army (WPA) for nearly six decades. Wenda was a prominent figure in the West Papuan independence movement and fought against Indonesian control of West Papua from 1966 until his death at age 104.
West Papuan Independence Struggle
According to documents from Tempo magazine, Wenda began his activism in 1966, during a period when West Papua was forcibly incorporated against the will of its people. From these early days, he committed himself to what would become a lifelong mission of advocating for West Papuan rights and independence from foreign domination.
Military leadership
As Commander-in-Chief of the West Papua Army, Wenda provided structure and strategic direction to the independence movement during challenging decades when global attention to West Papua's situation was often limited. Despite having no formal education and being unable to read or write, Wenda developed significant military and political leadership skills during his time in the jungles of New Guinea. According to Benny Wenda, Interim President of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Mathias Wenda played a crucial role in the modern West Papuan independence movement:
Chief General Wenda was the only revolutionary leader from that first generation to guide our struggle into the modern era. Along with other commanders, he fought his entire life for an independent, fully liberated Republic of West Papua. He recruited, taught and promoted many leaders who are still active in West Papua and in exile – including myself, as the Interim President of the ULMWP Provisional Government.
—Benny Wenda, Interim President statement, April 14, 2025
Wenda is also credited with inspiring the drafting of the original ULMWP Constitution in 2014 and guiding the drafting and passing of the Constitution of the ULMWP Provisional Government in October 2020. Personal life Benny Wenda, the Interim President of West Papua (no familial relation), described Mathias Wenda's extraordinary personal journey:
General Wenda demonstrated to the world his character, leadership, determination and commitment, as a Melanesian clan elder who led a revolution in the modern age, for a modern nation-state; a man who didn't read and write, but learned everything during a lifetime spent in the jungle of New Guinea; who travelled the second largest island on Earth barefoot, from Wamena in the Central Highlands to Vanimo, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea.
—Benny Wenda, Interim President statement, April 14, 2025
2014 Border Clash
On 5 April 2014, General Wenda's forces staged a dramatic pre-dawn protest at the Indonesia-PNG border near Skouw-Wutung. Witnesses confirmed approximately 40 West Papua Army fighters lowered the Indonesian flag, raised the Morning Star and UN flags, and engaged Indonesian security forces resulting that ended with 1 Indonesian soldier and 1 police officer wounded.
The clash resulted in temporary border closures and demonstrated Wenda's continued operational leadership at age 93. It became one of the last confirmed field operations under his direct command, highlighting both the resistance's persistence and Indonesia's efforts to frame independence actions as criminal acts.
This incident exemplified Wenda's strategic use of border areas for symbolic protests, maintaining international attention on West Papua's struggle despite increasing Indonesian military pressure in the region.
Death and legacy
Wenda died on April 12, 2025, at the Central Headquarters of the West Papua Army in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. The Central Defence Headquarters of the West Papua Army officially declared a period of national mourning for the Papua Nation and Melanesian race from April 12th to April 24th, 2025. A military funeral was organized in Yako Village, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. Benny Wenda characterized Mathias Wenda's vision as extending beyond West Papua to encompass a broader Melanesian identity:
A Free West Papua was General Wenda's dream: he understood that only by freeing West Papua can we finally free Melanesia from the colonial footprint. Only then can we become One: One Shared Origin, One Island and One Destiny.
—Benny Wenda, Interim President statement, April 14, 2025
(The phrasing consciously echoes the UNIA's motto "One Aim, One God, One Destiny," linking West Papua’s struggle to broader Black liberation movements.)
In his final statement about the late general, Benny Wenda said: "Mathias Wenda's spirit is at rest now, but it continues to bless our fight, and he will be with us when we finally raise the Morning Star in a free West Papua."[2]
References
- ↑ TPNPB-OPM: West Papua Army Commander Mathias L. Wenda Dies at 104
- ↑ https://www.freewestpapua.org/2025/04/14/interim-president-statement-on-the-death-of-chief-general-mathias-wenda/
External links
United Liberation Movement for West Papua
