BIOGRAPHY
Hifikepunye Pohamba
Nam es:
Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba
Date of B irth:
18 August 1935
P lace of B irth:
Okanghudi-Pohamba village, Oshikango
Constituency, Ohangwena Region, Namibia
F am ily:
Father: Pohamba Hamukoto - Peasant
Mother: Kaupumhote Nghituuamata - Peasant
Four bothers and four sisters
Upbringing/
Childhood:
Grew up with parents, assisting with general
work including cultivation of land and looking
after livestock (cattle, goats etc)
Qualifications:
Attended Holy Cross Mission School at
Onamunama 1947 to 1953.
Obtained a Diploma in Political Science,
International School of Political Science,
Moscow, Russian Federation,1981.
Other
qualifications:
Marital S tatus:
Trained in Project Planning and Finance under the
auspices of Swedish International Development
Agency (SIDA) 1982.
Married to Penehupifo Hipangelwa in 1983:
One son and two daughters were born from
this union
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Profession:
Politician
1956 -1960:
Employed as Clerk at Tsumeb Corporation Limited (TCL)
1964 -1969:
Served as SWAPO Deputy Chief Representative for Central
and North Africa, based in Algiers, Algeria
1973 -1977:
Served as SWAPO Chief Representative in East Africa, based
in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
1978:
Elected as Member of the Political Bureau of SWAPO
1978 -1989:
Served as Secretary for Finance of SWAPO
1989:
Head of Administration, SWAPO Elections Directorate,
Windhoek, Namibia
“Elected as a Member of the Constituent Assembly which drafted the
Constitution of the Republic of Namibia.”
1990:
Became a member of the National Assembly (Parliament) of
the Republic of Namibia.
1990 -1995:
Served as the first Minister of Home Affairs, Republic of
Namibia
1996 -1998:
Served as the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources,
Republic of Namibia
1999 -2000:
Served as Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the
President, Republic of Namibia
2001 -2005:
Served as Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation,
Republic of Namibia
2005 to date:
Elected as President of the Republic of Namibia
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
1960:
Founding member of SWAPO Party and Political Mobiliser.
1961:
Arrested, chained for several days and flogged publicly at Ohangwena
Traditional Court due to his political activism.
1961:
Left Namibia for Tanganyika (the present Tanzania).
1962
Returned to Namibia from Tanganyika. Arrested and imprisoned for
5 months and thereafter was placed under house arrest at Okanghudi
village. Left Namibia for Tanganyika in the same year.
1963:
Returned to Namibia and operated underground as a SWAPO
Mobiliser.
1964:
Left Namibia for the second time for Tanzania to participate in the
organisation of the national liberation struggle.
1966:
Returned to Namibia from Zambia together with Comrade Sam Shafiishuna
Nujoma to challenge the South African Colonial Administration.
They were subsequently detained and deported the following day back
to Zambia.
1970:
Elected as a member of the Central Committee and Deputy
Administrative Secretary of SWAPO at the SWAPO Consultative
Congress held at Tanga, Tanzania.
1977:
Elected as a member of the Central Committee and its Political
Bureau, and as Secretary for finance at the SWAPO Consultative
Congress held at Namundwe, Zambia.
1983:
Re-elected to the Central Committee and its Political Bureau, and
Secretary for Finance at the Enlarged SWAPO Central Committee
Meeting held at Kwanza-Sul, Angola.
1991:
Re-elected to the Central Committee and its Political Bureau and as
Secretary for Finance at the first Congress of SWAPO held in an
Independent Namibia.
1997:
Elected as Secretary-General of SWAPO Party at the 2nd SWAPO
Party Congress held in Windhoek.
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
2002:
Elected as Vice-President of the SWAPO Party at its 3rd Congress
held in Windhoek.
2004:
Nominated as the SWAPO Party Presidential Candidate at the SWAPO
Party Extra-Ordinary Congress held in Windhoek.
"
2005:
Elected President of the Republic of Namibia.
Sworn-in as the Second President of the Republic of Namibia on 21
March 2005.
OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES AND HONOURS
1977-1989:
Responsible for the management of all Finances of SWAPO Party
including the management of all donor assistance to SWAPO,
its Settlements and Projects in exile and in Namibia.
1983-1984:
Assigned the responsibility of designing a framework for the
establishment of a future Bank of Namibia with the assistance
of the Government of Sweden, including the recruitment of its
first Governor, the design of the future fiscal and monetary
Policies for the independent Namibia.
Publications:
Co-authored various SWAPO Party policy papers and
Publications, including the guide "Implementation of SWAPO
Party Election Manifesto", November 2000.
2005:
Recipient of Namibia's highest award, the Most Ancient
Order of the Welwitchia Mirabilis.
2010
Recipient of the 2010 Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources
Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) Food Security Policy
Leadership Award
2011
Awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
(honoris causa) by the University of Namibia.
Hobbies:
Reading, political debates, watching football, traditional music
and dance.