Hifikepunye Pohamba | |
|---|---|
 Pohamba in 2010 | |
| 2ndPresident of Namibia | |
| In office 21 March 2005 – 21 March 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Nahas Angula (2005–2012) Hage Geingob (2012–2015) |
| Preceded by | Sam Nujoma |
| Succeeded by | Hage Geingob |
| President ofSWAPO | |
| In office 29 November 2007 – 19 April 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Sam Nujoma |
| Succeeded by | Hage Geingob |
| Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation | |
| In office 2001–2005 | |
| President | Sam Nujoma |
| Preceded by | Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana |
| Succeeded by | Jerry Ekandjo |
| Minister without portfolio | |
| In office 1997–2000 | |
| President | Sam Nujoma |
| Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources | |
| In office 1995–1997 | |
| President | Sam Nujoma |
| Preceded by | Helmut Angula |
| Succeeded by | Abraham Iyambo |
| Minister of Home Affairs | |
| In office 1990–1995 | |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Succeeded by | Jerry Ekandjo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (1935-08-18)18 August 1935 (age 89) Okanghudi,Ovamboland,South West Africa (nowNamibia) |
| Political party | SWAPO |
| Spouse | Penehupifo Pohamba |
| Children | Tulongeni Kaupu Ndapanda and two stepchildren, Waldheim and Ndelitungapo Shiluwa |
| Alma mater | Peoples' Friendship University of Russia |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Religion | Anglicanism |
Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1935) is a Namibian politician who served as the secondpresident of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate ofSWAPO and was reelected in2009. Pohamba was the president of SWAPO from 2007 until his retirement in 2015. He is a recipient of theIbrahim Prize.
Before his presidency, Pohamba served in various ministerial positions, beginning with Namibia's independence in 1990. He wasMinister of Home Affairs from 1990 to 1995,Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources from 1995 to 1997,Minister without portfolio from 1997 to 2000, and Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation from 2001 to 2005. He was also secretary-general of SWAPO from 1997 to 2002 and vice-president of SWAPO from 2002 to 2007.
Hifikepunye Pohamba was born on 18 August 1935 inOkanghudi, then part ofSouth West Africa, in an area then known asOvamboland (today in theOhangwena Region of Namibia). He completed his primary school education in theAnglican Holy Cross Mission school inOnamunhama, and in 1956 took up work at theTsumeb mine.[1][2][3]
Pohamba was active in theOvamboland People's Organization. When this national liberation movement transformed intoSWAPO in 1960, Pohamba was a founding member of the organization's new incarnation and left his job in the mine to work as a full-time organizer for the group.[1][4]
In 1961 Pohamba went into exile. He traveled toDar es Salaam to the newly-independentTanganyika (today part ofTanzania) where he metSam Nujoma, later Namibia's first president, for the first time. It was resolved that he should join a group of SWAPO members returning home and mobilizing people there. On his way he was arrested inRhodesia (todayZimbabwe) and was jailed inBulawayo, then deported toJohannesburg. He spent six months in jail there and was then put under house arrest in Ovamboland.[2]
In 1964 Pohamba again left Namibia. He went toLusaka to set up SWAPO'sZambian office. He returned to Namibia in 1966 with Sam Nujoma, claiming that SWAPO leaders were not banned from traveling. They were nevertheless deported to Zambia a day after their arrival. Pohamba moved to Dar es Salaam again.[2][5][6]
In 1971 SWAPO transferred Pohamba toAlgeria; He became the movement's chief representative for northern Africa. In 1979 he became the party's chief of operations in Lusaka. From 1981 to 1982 he studied politics in theSoviet Union, and upon his return to Africa, he moved toLuanda,Angola, where SWAPO's headquarters was at that time.[2][1]
Pohamba headed SWAPO's 1989 election campaign[4] and was a SWAPO member of theConstituent Assembly, which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990,[7] before becoming a member of theNational Assembly at independence in March 1990.[1] He wasMinister of Home Affairs from March 1990 to 1995,Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources from 1995 to 1997,[2][1] andMinister without portfolio from 1997 to March 2000.[2][8] He was elected as secretary-general of SWAPO in 1997 and as its vice-president in 2002.[5] On 26 January 2001, he was appointed asMinister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation in addition to his above ministerial position,[9] in which position he remained until becoming president in 2005.
Under Pohamba's leadership as Minister of Lands, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation, Namibia initiated a policy of partial land expropriation from landed white farmers to landless black ones. This policy was introduced to supplement the existing one of "willing buyer-willing seller" to try speed up the process.
After becoming president, Pohamba also took over the chancellorship of theUniversity of Namibia from Nujoma in November 2011.[10]
Pohamba was selected as SWAPO's candidate for the 2004 presidential election at an extraordinary party congress held in May 2004. He received 213 votes out of 526 in the first round of voting; in the second round, held on 30 May, he won with 341 votes against 167 forHidipo Hamutenya, having received the support of nearly all of those who had backed third-place candidateNahas Angula in the first round.[11] In the presidential election, held on 15/16 November 2004, Pohamba won with 76.44% of the vote,[12] in what has been described as a "landslide", but also denounced as flawed by the opposition.[13] He was backed by Nujoma, who was then serving his third five-year term; Pohamba has been described as Nujoma's hand-picked successor.[14] Pohamba took office as president on 21 March 2005[15] and has since distinguished himself by careful but decisive moves against corruption.Although there was speculation that Nujoma would seek re-election as SWAPO President in 2007 and then run for President of Namibia again in 2009, he denied these rumors in early October 2007, saying that he intended to step down as party leader in favor of Pohamba.[16][17] On 29 November 2007, Pohamba was elected as SWAPO President at a party congress; he was the only candidate to be nominated and no voting was deemed necessary. Nujoma said that he was "passing the torch and mantle of leadership to comrade Pohamba".[18] The congress also chose Pohamba as the party's only candidate for the2009 presidential election.[19][20]
Pohamba won a second term in the November 2009 presidential election, receiving 611,241 total votes (76.42%). The second-place candidate, Hidipo Hamutenya (who had left SWAPO and gone into opposition), received 88,640 (11.08%).[21]
Pohamba was unable to stand for re-election in2014 due to constitutional term limits. The election was again won overwhelmingly by SWAPO, and Pohamba was succeeded byHage Geingob on 21 March 2015. Less than a month later, on 19 April 2015, he retired as president of SWAPO.[22]
Pohamba ended his term with high approval ratings, being hailed for pushing for gender equality and increased spending on housing and education.[23]
Pohamba has been married toPenehupifo since 1983. The couple owns farm Guinaspoh #41 nearOtavi.[24]
Liberia:
Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Pioneers of Liberia (29 July 2009)[25]
North Korea:
First Class of theOrder of Friendship (20 March 2008)[26]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link),The Namibian, 31 May 2004.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New office | Minister of Home Affairs 1990–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources 1995–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation 2001–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of Namibia 2005–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President ofSWAPO 2007–2015 | Succeeded by |
| SWAPO nominee for President of Namibia 2004,2009 | ||
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
