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Politics of Namibia takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Namibia is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by both the president and the government. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Theo-Ben Gurirab was a Namibian politician who served in various senior government positions. He served as the second Prime Minister of Namibia from 28 August 2002 to 20 March 2005, following the demotion and subsequent resignation of Hage Geingob. Previously he was the country's first Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 2002, and was President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1999 to 2000. He was Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia from 2005 to 2015, when he was replaced by Peter Katjavivi. Gurirab ultimately resigned from politics in 2015.
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.
Nahas Gideon Angula is a Namibian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 4 December 2012. He was succeeded by Hage Geingob in a cabinet reshuffle after the 2012 SWAPO Party congress. He subsequently served as Minister of Defence from 2012 to 2015.
Marco Mukoso Hausiku was a Namibian politician who was Deputy-Prime Minister of Namibia from 2010 to 2015.
The Republican Party is a political party in Namibia. It is based among the white minority. Henk Mudge was its President and its sole representative in the National Assembly. Prior to the 2004 parliamentary election, the Republican Party was part of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). It was revived as an independent party in 2003, and won 1.9% of popular votes and one National Assembly seat.
Hage Gottfried Geingob is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 2012 to 2015. Between 2008 and 2012 Geingob served as Minister of Trade and Industry. He is also the current president of the ruling SWAPO Party since his election to the position in November 2017.
Benjamin Ulenga is a Namibian trade unionist, politician, and diplomat. In the 1990s, he served under the SWAPO government as a deputy minister and as an ambassador, but he left SWAPO in 1998 and founded an opposition party, the Congress of Democrats (CoD), in 1999. He was a member of the National Assembly of Namibia from 2000 to 2015 and led the CoD until 2015.
Jerry Lukiiko Ekandjo is a Namibian politician, former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. He is one of the founding members of the SWAPO Youth League and has been one of the most active internal leading members of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) during the liberation struggle. He spent eight years in prison on Robben Island after being charged for inciting violence in 1973.
The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) is a political party in Namibia. It was launched on 17 November 2007 under the leadership of Hidipo Hamutenya and Jesaya Nyamu, both former leading members of the ruling SWAPO party and cabinet ministers. Hamutenya had unsuccessfully sought the SWAPO nomination for President in 2004. At the time of the RDP's launch, it was considered to represent the strongest challenge to SWAPO's political dominance since the country gained its independence in 1990. According to Hamutenya, speaking at the RDP's launch, the party was "born in response to our people's deep longing for a vision, political direction and the rekindling of their hopes and aspiration for a better and prosperous future".
Pendukeni "Penny" Iivula-Ithana is a Namibian politician who served as the secretary general of SWAPO, Namibia's ruling party, from 2007 to 2012. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia in 1989 and has been a member of Parliament and member of cabinet since independence in 1990.
General elections were held in Namibia on 27–28 November 2009. They were the fourth general elections since independence and the fifth democratic elections. Voting ended on 28 November and official election results, released on 4 December, showed that Hifikepunye Pohamba and his SWAPO Party were re-elected, each with over 75% of the vote. Prior to the election, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) was widely expected to score a landslide victory, with the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) considered SWAPO's biggest challenger. Fourteen political parties competed for seats in the National Assembly of Namibia, and twelve candidates ran for the presidency.
McHenry Venaani is a Namibian politician and the president of the Popular Democratic Movement, a party with sixteen seats in the National Assembly of Namibia and one seat in the National Council of Namibia. Venaani has been a member of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2010, in 2014, and since 2015. At the time of his appointment in 2002, he was Namibia's youngest MP. He is one of the three candidates standing for election as Paramount Chief of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority in January 2023, competing against Hoze Riruako and Mike Kavekotora.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is a Namibian politician who is the Deputy-Prime Minister of Namibia since March 2015. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwa, the current SWAPO vice president, has retained her position, and she 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.
General elections were held in Namibia on 28 November 2014, although early voting took place in foreign polling stations and for seagoing personnel on 14 November. The elections were the first on the African continent to use electronic voting.
Margaret Natalie Mensah-Williams is a Namibian politician, diplomat, and prominent SWAPO member. She currently serves as Namibia's ambassador to the United States.
General elections were held in Namibia on 27 November 2019. Ballots were cast using electronic voting. A total of eleven candidates ran for the presidency and fifteen political parties contested the National Assembly elections.
Esther Utjiua Muinjangue is a Namibian politician and the president of the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO), a party which occupies two seats in the National Assembly of Namibia and one seat in the National Council of Namibia. In addition, she is the first woman to lead a political party in Namibia, and the country's first female presidential candidate. She was appointed as the country's deputy minister of health and social services in March 2020 by Namibian president Hage Geingob. She has for a long time been advocating for social workers’ role in many aspects of people’s lives and at different levels.
Jan Johannes van Wyk is a Namibian politician who has served as a Member of the National Assembly of Namibia since 2015, first as a representative for the United People's Movement (UPM) and later for the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) from 2020 onwards. He is the UPM's current vice-president and former national chairperson. Van Wyk represented the UPM on the Rehoboth Town Council from 2010 to 2015 and was the UPM's sole parliamentary representative before the party formed a pact with the PDM ahead of the 2019 general election.
References
- 1 2 "I did not apply for Parliament – Sankwasa - Confidente". Confidente - Lifting the Lid. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- 1 2 "Sankwasa, James Sankwasa". Namibian Parliament. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ "I support a corrupt-free Swapo vice presidential candidate – Sankwasa". The Namibian. 2022-09-05. Retrieved 2023-11-17.