Pohamba, Hifikepunye

▪ 2006

      On March 21, 2005, Hifikepunye Pohamba was sworn in as the president of Namibia, succeeding Sam Nujoma, who had decided not to seek a fourth term in office. Pohamba had cruised to a landslide victory in the presidential election of November 2004, garnering 76% of the vote. Few were surprised at the election's outcome. At the 2004 congress held by the ruling South West African People's Organization (SWAPO), Nujoma had made clear that he favoured Pohamba to succeed him as president, and the party subsequently gave Pohamba its nomination. Pohamba, who faced little serious opposition in the general election, became Namibia's second president since the country gained independence from South Africa in 1990.

      Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba was born on Aug. 18, 1935, in the district of Okanghudi in northern Namibia. After attending Holy Cross Anglican mission school, he worked in the Tsumeb mine from 1956 to 1960, when he became a full-time organizer for SWAPO, of which he was a founding member. In June 1961 he was arrested on charges of political agitation. He was subsequently convicted by a tribal court in Ohangwena, publicly flogged, and ordered to leave the area. He made his way to Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania), where he joined the SWAPO leadership in exile.

      During the ensuing years, Pohamba returned several times to Namibia to work on behalf of SWAPO and again was charged with agitating against South African rule. In 1966 he and Nujoma were expelled from the country. It was during this time that he became Nujoma's most trusted confidant. In 1969 Pohamba was elected a member of SWAPO's Central Committee and made deputy administrative secretary of the party. By 1977 he had become the party's secretary of finance. From 1979 to 1981 he was in charge of SWAPO affairs in Zambia, and then he was transferred to party headquarters in Luanda, Angola, where he remained until the SWAPO leadership returned to Namibia in 1989.

      At Namibia's independence Pohamba became a member of the National Assembly and served as the country's first minister of home affairs. In 1995 he took over as minister of fisheries and marine resources, and as minister without portfolio from 1998 to 2000, he campaigned for the constitution to be amended to allow Nujoma to serve a third term. SWAPO elected Pohamba its secretary-general in 1997 and vice president of the party in 2002. Upon taking office as president of Namibia, Pohamba vowed to “uphold the legacy” of Nujoma, who—despite having given up the presidency—would remain chairman of SWAPO. Pohamba talked of the need to hasten land reform in a country where, according to the government, 95% of the agricultural land was controlled by 5% of the population, most of whom were white farmers. He also spoke out strongly against corruption. In August 2005 Pohamba traveled to Zimbabwe and thanked its people for having helped liberate his country.

Christopher Saunders

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