Namibian Government
Namibia is ruled by a Multiparty Parliament and has a democratic Constitution that is highly regarded by the international community. The Government’s policy of national reconciliation and unity, embraces the concepts of tolerance, respect for differing political views and racial and ethnic harmony. The constitution establishes a bicameral Parliament and provides for general elections every 5 years and regional elections every 6 years. Members of the 72–seat National Assembly are elected on a party list system on a proportional basis. Members of the 26-seat National Council are elected from within popularly elected Regional Councils.
The three branches of government are subject to checks and balances and provision is made for judicial review. The judicial structure in Namibia largely parallels that of South Africa and comprises a Supreme Court, the High Court, and lower courts. Roman-Dutch law has been the common law of the territory since 1919. The Executive branch comprises the Chief of State who is president of Namibia and the Cabinet which consists of members of the National Assembly.
Dr. Sam Nujoma, the Founding Father of the Namibian Nation and leader of the liberation movement (Swapo), was elected democratically in free and fair elections as the first President of the Namibian republic in 1990. He served the Namibian nation tirelessly and created reconciliation amongst its people. In November 2004, the Founding Father announced his retirement and the Swapo Party democratically elected the Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Hifikepunye Pohamba to be the leader of the Swapo Party and candidate for the presidential elections. President Pohamba was elected by the Namibian people in free and fair democratic elections and inaugurated in March 2005 in conjunction with celebrations marking the country’s fifteenth anniversary.
As a republic, Namibia is also a secular state guaranteeing the freedom of religion and media. It is divided into 13 administrative regions including Caprivi, Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omaheke, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, and Otjozondjupa. The constitution provides for the private ownership of property and for human rights protections and states that Namibia should have a mixed economy and encourage foreign investment.
Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the Commonwealth of Nations. Namibia became the 160th member of the United Nations on April 23, 1990, and the 50th member of the British Commonwealth upon independence.
PRESIDENT HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA
President Hifikepunye Pohamba (born August 18, 1935) is the second and current President of Namibia. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO ruling party, taking office in March 2005.
As a child, he was educated at an Anglican mission. At the age of 25, Pohamba was a founding member of SWAPO in 1960. He was arrested for his political activity but moved to Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) whence he was deported soon afterwards. He then spent four months in prison in Namibia before spending two years in Ovamboland under house arrest. In 1964, he went to Lusaka to set up SWAPO’s Zambian office, and on his return, met the man who was later to become President, Sam Nujoma. Until the achievement of Namibian independence, Pohamba represented SWAPO across Africa, although he studied politics in the Soviet Union for a time in the early 1980s.
He headed SWAPO’s 1989 election campaign and was a SWAPO member of the Constituent Assembly, which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990, before becoming a member of the National Assembly at independence in March 1990. He was Minister of Home Affairs from March 1990 to 1995, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources from 1995 to 1997, and Minister without Portfolio from 1997 to March 2000. He was elected as Secretary-General of SWAPO in 1997 and as its Vice-President in 2002. On January 26, 2001, he was appointed Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, in which position he remained until becoming President in 2005.
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 May 30, he won with 341 votes against 167 for Hidipo Hamutenya, having received the support of nearly all of those who had backed third place candidate Nahas Angula in the first round. In the presidential election, held on November 15/2004, Pohamba won with 76.44% of the vote, in what has been described as a “landslide”.
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Namibian Parliament