From 1985 to 1989, a Transitional Government of National Unity, backed by South Africa and various ethnic political parties, tried unsuccessfully for recognition by the United Nations. He was subsequently convicted by a local court in Ohangwena and publicly flogged. In 1957, at age 29, Nujoma resigned from SAR so he could devote more time to politics. Every citizen of Namibia by birth of descent, over the age of thirty-five (35) years . The Afrikaners soon came in conflict with the Herero who entered Damaraland from the south at about the same time as the Afrikaner started to expand farther north from Namaqualand. It was not until the 19th century, when European powers sought to carve up the African continent between them in the so-called "Scramble for Africa", that Europeans Germany in the forefront became interested in Namibia. [25] Geingob married Monica Kalondo on February 14, 2015. [citation needed] From Mbeya, Nujoma travelled with the assistance of officials of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) via Njombe, Iringa and Dodoma to Dar-Es-Salaam. Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma was born at Etunda, a village in Ongandjera, near the town of Okahao, Ovamboland, Southwest Africa on 12 May 1929. Nujomo was also the first president of the independent Republic of Namibia., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr. Cuba, South Africa, and the People's Republic of Angola agreed to a complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Angola. Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Several registered political parties are active and represented in the National Assembly, although SWAPO Party has won every election since independence. During German occupation of South West Africa about one third of the population was wiped out in a genocide that continues to provoke widespread indignation. South Africa agreed to cooperate in achieving the implementation of Resolution 435. The Caprivi conflict has led to the longest[32] and largest[33] trial in the history of Namibia, the Caprivi treason trial. UNTAG's Martti Ahtisaari took advice from Margaret Thatcher, who was visiting Southern Africa at the time, and authorized a limited contingent of South African troops to assist the South West African Police in restoring order. He was arrested in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1962 and spent two months in jail in Bulawayo before being deported to Johannesburg. In 1964, he was appointed SWAPO Representative at the United Nations and to the Americas. Dr Hifikepunye Pohamba. The Koevoet issue had been one of the most difficult UNTAG faced. [36], Involvement in conflicts in Angola and DRC, Samuel Totten, William S. Parsons, Israel W. Charny, "Century of genocide: critical essays and eyewitness accounts", Routledge, 2004, pg. President Jacques Rogge greets International Olympic Committee members Russian former swimmer Alexander Popov and Namibian former sprinter Frankie. Known as Oorlams, these Khoisan adopted Boer customs and spoke a language similar to Afrikaans. He may also receive the title of National Chairman of SWAPO.[13]. [29], President Sam Nujoma has been vocal in his support of Zimbabwe and its president Robert Mugabe. Namibian, Angolan and Zimbabwean troops helped Kabila fend off the attacks a move which Nujoma saw as defending the DRC's sovereignty against outside interference. Between 1884 and 1915, Namibia was part of German territory called German South West Africa. In 1884 Bismarck did so, thereby establishing German South West Africa as a colony (Deutsch-Sdwestafrika in German). 09/22/2021. The director of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) in Namibia stated that Nujoma had connections to the CIA. In the late 1960s Nujoma continued his diplomatic rounds as SWAPO set up offices across Africa, Europe and the Americas. But colonial settlement in the area was limited, and neither the Dutch nor the British penetrated far into the country. Diamond production continues to be a very important part of Namibia's economy. During the land crisis in Zimbabwe, where the government confiscated white farmers' land by force, fears rose among the white minority and the western world that the same method would be used in Namibia.[30]. [20], In April 2021, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and The Namibian reported that Geingob was involved in the Fishrot scandal by allegedly instructing a government official to divert funds from a state-run fishing company to bribe attendees of the 2017 SWAPO electoral congress to vote for him. From 1884, Namibia was a German colony: German South West Africa. Cabinet Early life and the fight for national liberation, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hifikepunye-Pohamba, Fact Monster - People - Biography of Hifikepunye Pohamba. In 1969, Nujoma was re-affirmed as SWAPO President at the Tanga Consultative Conference in Tanzania. Namibia's president, Hifikepunye Pohamba, has won the $5m (3.2m) . He also examined the efforts of Namibians to build a reconciled society out of ethnically and racially stratified, diverse and often antagonistic groups, to promote democracy and a policy of reconciliation, to improve the life condition of the previously disadvantaged groups through affirmative action, to encourage good governance, to promote a culture of human rights, and to build state institutions to support these policies. It is dubitable whether the San (Bushmen), who alongside the Damara are the oldest ethnic group in Namibia, were the creators of these paintings. [14], At SWAPO's 2012 party congress, Geingob was reelected as vice-president on 2 December,[15][16] a result considered likely to make him the successor of Hifikepunye Pohamba as president of Namibia in 2015. It applied these laws to South West Africa as well, which it governed as the de facto fifth province of South Africa. [28] Two decades elapsed before his wife joined him abroad. When the United Kingdom took control of the Cape Colony in 1805, they also took over Walvis Bay. Upon South Africa's relinquishing control of Namibia, Commissioner Carlsson's role would be to administer the country, formulate its framework constitution, and organize free and fair elections based upon a non-racial universal franchise. There Nujoma met Moise Tshombe from the Conakat Party of Congolese. His focus was to work with African continental and regional organizations and Africa's development partners toward conflict resolution in Africa, promotion of good governance in African states, and integration of African economies in the global economy. Intense diplomatic activity characterized the next 7 months, as the parties worked out agreements to bring peace to the region and make possible the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 435 (UNSCR 435). In November 2017, Geingob became the third president of SWAPO after winning by a large margin at the party's 6th Congress. Almost 98% of registered voters turned out to elect members of the Constituent Assembly. As a free. During the 17th century the Herero, a pastoral, nomadic people keeping cattle, moved into Namibia. After 29 years in exile, Nujoma returned to Namibia in September 1989 to lead SWAPO to victory in the UN-supervised elections that paved the way for independence. At the same time, he continued to be a member of both the Central Committee and the Politburo of SWAPO. Nonetheless, in December 1978, in defiance of the UN proposal, it unilaterally held elections, which were boycotted by SWAPO and a few other political parties. ", Kssler, Reinhart. [15], As the SWAPO candidate, Geingob was elected President of Namibia by an overwhelming margin on 28 November 2014, receiving 87% of the vote. The civil war in Angola had a limited impact on Namibians living in the north of the country. In 1977, the Western Contact Group (WCG) was formed including Canada, France, West Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the Brandberg Mountains, there are numerous rock paintings, most of them originating from around 2000 B.C. EDITORIAL VIDEO 1,001 President Of Namibia Stock Photos & High-Res Pictures Browse 1,001 president of namibia photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. Pension and other benefits of . A Namibian politician named after Adolf Hitler says he has no plans for world domination after winning a sweeping victory in local elections. Soon the Namaqua people joined the war, again under the leadership of Hendrik Witbooi. In an interview with German newspaper Bild, he insisted he had "nothing to do" with Nazi ideology. Namibians' struggle at the international fora, and their armed struggle launched in 1966, eventually led to the independence of Namibia in 1990. Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. The inhospitable Namib Desert constituted a formidable barrier and neither of the Portuguese explorers went far inland. Namibia's colonial and Apartheid past had resulted in a situation where about 20 percent of the population owned about 75 percent of all the land. In 2009, Nujoma attained a master's degree in geology from the University of Namibia. Although the South African government wanted to incorporate South West Africa into its territory, it never officially did so, although it was administered as the de facto 'fifth province', with the white minority having representation in the whites-only Parliament of South Africa. He and three of his colleagues walked and hitchhiked to Botswana to escape the system. He was sworn in as president on 21 March 2015; the ceremony was attended by 15 regional Heads of State and Government. First they resided in Kaokoland, but in the middle of the 19th century some tribes moved farther south and into Damaraland. In December 1958 he was an organizer of the Old Location resistance and was arrested and deported to Ovamboland. [30], Sakaria "Zacky" Nujoma, youngest son of Nujoma, has been named in association with the Panama Papers.[31]. The US Government's role as mediator was both critical and disputed throughout the period, one example being the intense efforts in 1984 to obtain withdrawal of the South African Defence Force (SADF) from southern Angola. Early life and the fight for national liberation Mr Uunona said his wife calls him Adolf and he goes by the name in public, and has no plans to change it. Photo: John Grobler/dpa/Alamy Live News RM K24NJ2 - Windhoek, Namibia. Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is the third and the current President of Namibia, in office since 21 March 2015. But it still has many German-named towns and a small German-speaking community. There he developed tuberculosis from which he later died in 1968. ", de Souza Correa, Slvio Marcus. . In the beginning of the war the Herero, under the leadership of chief Samuel Maharero, had the upper hand. Apartheid created strict racial classifications and reduced the rights of natives, in particular. He served in this position until 1971. At a hastily arranged meeting of the Joint Monitoring Commission in Mount Etjo, a game park outside Otjiwarongo, it was agreed to confine the South African forces to base and return PLAN elements to Angola. Nujoma's father, Daniel Uutoni Nujoma, whose sole "crime" was being Nujoma's father, was arrested at Okahao and sent to Pretoria prison in 1966. South Africa continued to administer Namibia through its installed multiracial coalitions and an appointed Administrator-General. Ahtisaari was a major contributor when Namibia achieved independence in 1989-90, arbitrated in . How old do you have to be to be president of Namibia? In August 2018, Geingob began a one-year term as chairperson of the Southern African Development Community. Kwame Nkrumah assisted Nujoma to travel to United States and later to Liberia, where a case on South West Africa was being presented to the International Court of Justice. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In 1915, during World War I, South Africa launched a military campaign and occupied the German colony of South West Africa. The peaceful resolution of this territorial dispute was praised by the international community, as it fulfilled the provisions of the UNSCR 432 (1978), which declared Walvis Bay to be an integral part of Namibia. [18] The constitution of Namibia was changed to allow Nujoma to run for a third five-year term in 1999; this was justified on the grounds that he had not been directly elected for his first term, and the change applied only to Nujoma. For instance, SWAPO had been so demonised by the colonial media and by official pronouncements that most white people, as well as many members of other groups, regarded the movement with the deepest fear, loathing, and suspicion. Geingob also reassigned Fisheries Minister Albert Kawana to lead the Home Affairs Ministry while Deputy Minister . (Doctorate of Laws) Honoris Causa by the, In 1997, awarded LL.D. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989. He joined the Augustineum, where most of today's prominent political leaders of Namibia were educated, in 1958. It started in 1994 and had its peak in the early hours of 2 August 1999 when CLA launched an attack in Katima Mulilo, the provincial capital of the Caprivi Region. In exchange for the island of Heligoland in the North Sea, Britain assumed control of the island of Zanzibar in East Africa. "I have nothing to do with any of these things.". The protection treaty did have the effect of stabilising the situation but pockets of rebellion persisted, and were put down by an elite German regiment Schutztruppe, while real peace was never achieved between the colonialists and the natives. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Under the leadership of the tribal chief Hendrik Witbooi, the Namaqua put up a fierce resistance to the German occupation. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. He did not approve of the amendment to the constitution, and criticised Namibia's involvement in Congo. As early as 25 000 B.C., the first humans lived in the Huns Mountains in the South of Namibia. He has received multiple honors and awards for his leadership, including the Lenin Peace Prize, Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, and the Ho Chi Minh Peace Prize.
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