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 South West Africa People's Organisation, officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia. Founded in 1960, it has been the governing party in Namibia since the country achieved independence in 1990. The party continues to be dominated in number and influence by the Ovambo ethnic group.
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. Before 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.
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.
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.
Ben 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.
Albert Mishake Muyongo is a Namibian politician and former Member of Parliament who is currently living in exile in Denmark.
The Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) was a nationalist organization that existed between 1959 and 1960 in South West Africa. The aim of the organization was to end the South African colonial administration, and the placement of South West Africa under the United Nations Trusteeship system. Andimba Toivo ya Toivo had founded its predecessor, the Ovamboland People's Congress, in 1957 in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1959, Sam Nujoma and Jacob Kuhangua established the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) at the Old Location in Windhoek. Sam Nujoma was the president of OPO until its transformation into the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) a year later and remained president until Namibia gained independence in 1990.
Utoni Daniel Nujoma is a Namibian politician who has served 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.
Johannes Martin "Hannes" Smith, affectionately known as Smithie, was a Namibian journalist, editor and publisher. He was first reporter at, then the editor of, the Windhoek Advertiser until 1978 when he and Gwen Lister founded the Windhoek Observer, the country's only Saturday paper at that time. He remained the owner and editor of the Observer until his death.
Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation is a 2007 epic film on the Namibian independence struggle against South African occupation as seen through the life of Sam Nujoma, the leader of the South West Africa People's Organisation and the first president of the Republic of Namibia. The film was written and directed by Charles Burnett and stars Carl Lumbly and Danny Glover. The government of Namibia financed the production. Music composed by Stephen James Taylor won the award for Best African Film at the Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival. The film also won for Best Music Score and Best Director.
John Ya-Otto was a Namibian teacher, trade unionist, politician, author and diplomat.
The Old Location was an area segregated for Black residents of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was situated in the area between today's suburbs of Hochland Park and Pioneers Park.
Peter Mweshihange was a Namibian revolutionary and guerrilla leader, and after Namibian independence, a politician and diplomat. He was the Namibia's first Minister of Defence from 1990 to 1995, and first ambassador to the People's Republic of China from 1996 until his death.
The Mbadja or Ovambadja is an independent Bantu tribe that speaks the Oshimbadja language Fairly not Oshiwambo Speaking people but due to the way of pronouncing. The tribe consider themselves to be a distinct ethnic group, and the Namibian government formally recognised them in 2002. They originate from Ombadja in southern Angola, Cunene Province.
Aaron Twapewa Johannes Mushimba was a Namibian businessperson. Described as a business mogul, Mushimba was involved with the trading of diamonds. He was linked to Belgian American diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman. He was the chairperson of a Namibian investment group, PE Minerals, which holds the mining rights to the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia's ǁKaras Region. He is the brother-in-law of Namibia's founding President Sam Nujoma.
Kovambo Theopoldine Katjimune Nujoma is a Namibian political figure and former First Lady of Namibia.
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.
Gaus Shikomba was a South West Africa Liberation Army (Swala) intelligence officer who was imprisoned on Robben Island from 1966 to 1984.
