The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) comprises the national military forces of Namibia. It was created when the country,then known as South West Africa,gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. Chapter 15 of the Constitution of Namibia establishes the NDF and defines its role and purpose as," ... to defend the territory and national interests of Namibia".
The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.
The Zambezi Region is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country. It is largely concurrent with the major Zambezi River after which it was named. The region has eight constituencies and its capital is the town of Katima Mulilo. The self-governed village Bukalo is also situated in this region. The Zambezi Region had a population of 90,596 in 2011. As of 2020,it had 47,884 registered voters.
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.
The South African Border War,also known as the Namibian War of Independence,and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War,was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia,Zambia,and Angola from 26 August 1966 to 21 March 1990. It was fought between the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN),an armed wing of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO). The South African Border War resulted in some of the largest battles on the African continent since World War II and was closely intertwined with the Angolan Civil War.
Operation Prone was a proposed military operation by the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War between May and September 1988. With the advance of the 50th Cuban Division towards Calueque and the South-West Africa border,the SADF formed the 10 SA Division to counter this threat. The plan for Operation Prone had two phases. Operation Linger was to be a counterinsurgency phase and Operation Pact a conventional phase.
The Caprivi conflict was an armed conflict between the Namibian government and the Caprivi Liberation Army,a rebel group that waged a brief insurrection in 1999 for the secession of the Caprivi Strip.
Albert Mishake Muyongo is a Namibian politician and former Member of Parliament who is currently living in exile in Denmark.
Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA) is a Namibian rebel and separatist group which was established in 1994 to separate the Caprivi Strip,a region mainly inhabited by the Lozi people. It operates only in the Caprivi strip.
Utoni Daniel Nujoma is a Namibian politician who serves as Minister of Labour,Industrial Relations and Employment Creation since March 2020. He has served in various government ministerial positions in the government since 2010.
The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the South African Border War. Throughout its history,PLAN had both irregular insurgent and semi-conventional units,as well as an extensive recruitment network in rural South West Africa (Namibia). During the war most of its domestic activities consisted of mine warfare and acts of sabotage. PLAN initially lacked any standing units,and the bulk of operations were carried out by political exiles who spent cyclical periods residing in refugee camps in neighbouring states before launching raids inside South West Africa itself. By the end of the war,PLAN had 32,000 militants under arms,including three battalions of semi-conventional troops equipped with heavy weapons.
Erkki Nghimtina is a Namibian politician and former military officer in the Namibia Defence Force (NDF). A member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO),Nghimtina served as member of the National Assembly of Namibia from 1995 to 2020. He served in various cabinet roles from 2005 to 2020.
Tuliameni Kalomoh is a Namibian diplomat who has among other portfolios served as Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs to the President,Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia.
Richard Kapelwa Kabajani was a Namibian activist,militant,diplomat and politician. Kabajani was a military commander for SWAPO during the Namibian War of Independence and after independence served a minister in the Namibian government.
Lieutenant General John Sinvula Mutwa was a Namibian military officer whose last appointment was as chief of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF). He was appointed the commander of the Namibian Army in 2011,and NDF Chief on 31 December 2013,a position from which he retired on 31 March 2020.
The Namibian Army is the ground warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force.
Tobias Hainyeko (1932–1967) was a Namibian guerrilla fighter who served as the first commander of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) during the Namibian War of Independence from the 1960s through to the 1980s.
Brendan Kongongolo Simbwaye (1934–1972?) was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist who was president of the Caprivi African National Union (CANU). Simbwaye became the vice-president of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1964 after the two organizations merged. Simbwaye's life and political career was cut short in 1972 when he disappeared without trace.
Brigadier General Bernard Nkawa was a Namibian military officer whose last appointment was as Defence Attachéto DRC.
Air Commodore Paavo Elwin-Paul Kamanya is a Namibian military officer who is serving as Defence Attache to Sri Lanka. He previously served as deputy Namibian Air Force commander.
Lieutenant Colonel