Eddie Shimwethelini Amkongo (born 1 December 1945) is a Namibian civil servant and diplomat. A chief diplomat with SWAPO and later independent Namibia, Amkongo was appointed chairperson of the Public Service Commission in 2006.
Born near Ondangwa, Amkongo studied at Oshigambo High School in Oshigambo, Oshikoto Region in the 1960s and he was found with SWAPO publications and letters from friend Helmut Angula from the Soviet Union. He later became a leading organizer for SWAPO in northern Namibia. From 1971-72, Amkongo studied at Turfloop University, a black-only university in South Africa. In June 1974, Amkongo and several SWAPO organisers fled into exile to SWAPO's camp in Oshatotwa, Zambia, where he received military training. He also studied at Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka while in exile. He then worked for SWAPO's Voice of Namibia radio station in Zambia then Brazzaville, People's Republic of the Congo. He was a key diplomat for SWAPO abroad during the 1980s; he was based in Senegal (1981–85) and France (1985–89) and was the chief diplomat for West Africa and much of Western Europe while based there. In the late 1980s, Amkongo was one of SWAPO's chief negotiators during the run-up to independence. [1]
Following Namibia's independence in 1990, Amkongo became a key civil servant and diplomat in the newly established government. He served as his country's ambassador to Ethiopia, home of the Organization of African Unity. He also held several key domestic posts, including in the Office of the President and as cabinet secretary. In 2000, he was sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as Namibia's top diplomat during the Second Congo War. From 2000 to 2003, Amkongo was a political advisor to the foreign forces supporting Congo's government during the implementation of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement. [1]
After independence in 1964 the foreign relations of Zambia were mostly focused on supporting liberation movements in other countries in Southern Africa, such as the African National Congress and SWAPO. During the Cold War Zambia was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first president of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960. Prior to 1960, SWAPO was known as the Ovambo People's Organisation (OPO). He played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia's political independence from South African rule. He established the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962 and launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government of South Africa in August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe, beginning after the United Nations withdrew the mandate for South Africa to govern the territory. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989.
Hidipo Livius Hamutenya was a Namibian politician. A long time leading member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hamutenya was a member of the Cabinet of Namibia from independence in 1990 to 2004, serving in several important ministerial portfolios. He was defeated in a bid for the party's presidential nomination in 2004 and left SWAPO to form an opposition group, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), in 2007. He was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia with RDP in the 2009 general election. He was forced to step down as RDP president on 28 February 2015 and rejoined SWAPO on 28 August 2015.
Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and was reelected in 2009. Pohamba was the president of SWAPO from 2007 until his retirement in 2015. He is a recipient of the Ibrahim Prize.
Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist, politician and political prisoner. Ya Toivo was active in the pre-independence movement, and is one of the co-founders of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) in 1960, and before that, its predecessor the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) in 1959.
Angolan–Namibian relations relate to the relations between the governments of the Republic of Angola and the Republic of Namibia.
The United Nations Institute for Namibia (UNIN) was an educational body set up by the United Nations Council for Namibia from 1976 to 1990. Based in Zambia's capital of Lusaka, UNIN was the brainchild of United Nations Commissioner for Namibia Seán MacBride, the proposal creating UNIN was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1974. The forerunner to the current University of Namibia, UNIN sought to educate Namibians for roles in an independent Republic of Namibia.
Andreas Zack Shipanga was a Namibian politician known for the "Shipanga Rebellion", a movement within SWAPO that sought to elect a new leadership and whose followers were in response detained without trial. Imprisoned for two years following this fall-out, Shipanga was arrested and held in detention in Zambia then Tanzania until 1978. After his release from prison he founded the opposing SWAPO Democrats and served as minister in different portfolios in the Transitional Government of National Unity, the interim government of South-West Africa directly before Namibian independence.
Jhonny Haikella Hakaye is a Namibian politician. A member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hakaye was first elected to the National Council in 1993. He is the Chief Whip for SWAPO in the National Council.
Jesaya Nyamu is a Namibian politician. A member of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), he was a high level member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) from 1964, when he fled into exile, until 2002, when he was expelled from the party for "disobedience". He was a member of SWAPO's central committee from 1975 until his expulsion from the party in 2002. In 2007, he registered a new political party, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) and was unanimously selected as the party's secretary general in 2008. He was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia with RDP in the 2009 general election.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is a Namibian politician who is the third and current vice president of Namibia since February 2024. She previously served as the deputy-prime minister of Namibia from 2015 to 2024. The current SWAPO vice president, she has retained her position, and is set to become the party's first female presidential candidate in November 2024. She has also been serving as Namibia's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation since December 2012. From March 2010 to December 2012, she was Minister of Environment and Tourism. Nandi-Ndaitwah is a member of SWAPO, Namibia's ruling party, and a long-time member of the National Assembly. In 2017, Nandi-Ndaitwah was elected vice-president of the Swapo Party at the party's 6th Congress. She is the first woman to serve in that position.
Ponhele Andrew Mbidi ya France was a Namibian politician and trade unionist. A longtime member of SWAPO, ya France was elected into the National Assembly of Namibia from 2000 to 2005. He was head of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation from 2005 to 2008.
Namibia–Zambia relations refers to the bilateral relations of Namibia and Zambia. Namibia and Zambia are separated by the Zambezi River. The Katima Mulilo Bridge connects Katima Mulilo on the Namibia side with Sesheke, Zambia. Both countries are members of the African Union and Non-Aligned Movement.
George Tuliameni Kalomoh is a Namibian politician and diplomat. He is a former ambassador of SWAPO to India, ambassador of Namibia to the United States of America, assistant secretary-general in the United Nations, and deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Angura Peter Tshirumbu Tsheehama (1941–2010) was a commander in the People's Liberation Army of Namibia, diplomat, chief of intelligence, and Namibian minister.
Joseph Obgeb Jimmy was a Namibian diplomat. Jimmy was born in Windhoek's Old Location in 1951 and witnessed the forced removal of residents in December 1959 to the new suburb of Katutura.
Voice of Namibia (VoN) was a pirate radio station propagating Namibian independence, and the political mouthpiece of the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) during the Namibian War of Independence. It operated from 1966 until Namibian independence in 1990 from different hosting stations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Loide Pashukeni Shinavene is a retired Namibian politician of the SWAPO Party. She was a member in the National Assembly of the Republic of Namibia in 2015 until her retirement in 2020.
Ndeutala Angolo, also known as NdeutalaSelma Hishongwa and Ndeutala Angolo Amutenya, is a Namibian writer and political activist.
Godfrey ǀKhaesen Gaoseb was a Namibian economist and civil servant. He served as the first permanent secretary in the Namibian Ministry of Finance after the independence of Namibia, an executive director of the World Bank, and as the Special Advisor on Economics to presidents Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba.