1.
Hage Geingob
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Hage Gottfried Geingob is the third and the current President of Namibia, in office since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 21 March 1990 to 28 August 2002, between 2008 and 2012 Geingob served as Minister of Trade and Industry. He was Vice-President of the South West Africa Peoples Organization between 2007 and 2015 and became President in 2015 when his predecessor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, stepped down, in November 2014, Geingob was elected as President of Namibia by an overwhelming margin. Geingob was born in Otjiwarongo, South-West Africa, in 1941 and he received his early education at Otavi in South-West Africa under the Bantu Education System. He joined the Augustineum, where most of today’s prominent political leaders of Namibia were educated, in 1960, he was expelled from Augustineum for having participated in a march in protest at the poor quality of education. He was, however, re-admitted and was able to finish the course in 1961. Subsequently, he took up a position at the Tsumeb Primary School in Central Namibia. As a teacher, he hated being an unwilling instrument in perpetuating the Bantu Education System. Therefore, at the end of the year, he left his job to seek knowledge. He, with three of his colleagues, walked and hitch-hiked to Botswana to escape the system, from Botswana, he was scheduled to go to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on a plane chartered by the African National Congress. However, this plane was blown up by the South Africans when it was still on the ground because the bomb went off prematurely. Subsequently, the regime also tightened up the underground railway. As a result, Hage Geingob stayed on in Botswana where he served as Assistant South West Africa Peoples Organization Representative in Botswana, in 1964, Hage Geingob left for the United States to study at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was granted a scholarship. Subsequently, he obtained a BA degree from Fordham University in New York City in 1970, in 1964, he was appointed SWAPO Representative at the United Nations and to the Americas. He served in this position until 1971 and he travelled extensively, criss-crossing the United States, talking with people, addressing gatherings. He and his colleagues were not always successful, but ultimately the United Nations General Assembly recognised SWAPO as the sole, namibians struggle at the international fora, and their armed struggle launched in 1966 eventually led to the independence of Namibia in 1990. He, with his team, was responsible for starting this training, an important component of the Institute was also to carry out sectoral research to develop policy framework for the government of independent Namibia. Over the years, the Institute grew in stature and institutional relations were established with various institutions of learning in Europe
2.
Term of office
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A term of office is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subject to re-election. Some jurisdictions exercise term limits, setting a number of terms an individual may hold in a particular office. Being the origin of the Westminster system, aspects of the United Kingdoms system of government are replicated in other countries. The monarch serves as head of state until his or her death or abdication, in the United Kingdom Members of Parliament in the House of Commons are elected for the duration of the parliament. Following dissolution of the Parliament, an election is held which consists of simultaneous elections for all seats. For most MPs this means that their terms of office are identical to the duration of the Parliament, an MP elected in a by-election mid-way through a Parliament, regardless of how long they have occupied the seat, is not exempt from facing re-election at the next general election. The Septennial Act 1715 provided that a Parliament expired seven years after it had been summoned, prior to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 parliaments had no minimum duration. Parliaments could be dissolved early by the monarch at the Prime Ministers request, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 mandated that Parliaments should last their full five years. Early dissolution is possible, but under much more limited circumstances. Hereditary peers and life peers retain membership of the House of Lords for life, Lords Spiritual hold membership of the House of Lords until the end of their time as bishops, though a senior bishop may be made a life peer upon the end of their bishopric. The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are variations on the system of government used at Westminster, the office of the leader of the devolved administrations has no numeric term limit imposed upon it. However, in the case of the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government there are fixed terms for which the legislatures can sit and this is imposed at four years. Elections may be held before this time but only if no administration can be formed, offices of local government other regional elected officials follow similar rules to the national offices discussed above, with persons elected to fixed terms of a few years. Federal judges have different terms in office, however, the majority of the federal judiciary, Article III judges, such as those of the Supreme Court, courts of appeal, and federal district courts, serve for life. The terms of office for officials in state governments according to the provisions of state constitutions. The term for state governors is four years in all states but Vermont and New Hampshire, the National Conference of State Legislatures reported in January 2007 that among state legislatures,44 states had terms of office for the lower house of the state legislature at two years. Five had terms of office at four years,37 states had terms of office for the upper house of the state legislature at four years
3.
Sam Nujoma
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Samuel Shafiishuna 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 member and the first president of the South West Africa Peoples Organization in 1960. He played an important role as leader of the liberation movement in campaigning for Namibias independence from South African rule. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989, during World War I, South Africa defeated the German colonial forces in South West Africa and established martial law in the colony after making a peace treaty in July 1915. After the war, the League of Nations officially assigned the former German colony, when the National Party won the 1948 election in South Africa, it passed laws establishing racial segregation known as apartheid. It applied these laws to Southwest Africa as well, which it governed as the de facto province of South Africa. Apartheid created strict racial classifications and reduced the rights of natives, Nujoma became involved in anti-colonial politics during the 1950s. In 1959, he traveled to Cape Town, South Africa and became a founder and president of the Ovamboland Peoples Organization, in December 1958 he was an organizer of the Old Location resistance and was arrested and deported to Ovamboland. In 1960 he escaped and went into exile in Tanzania where he was welcomed by Julius Nyerere, Namibia finally achieved independence in 1990, holding its first democratic elections. SWAPO won a majority and Nujoma was elected as the countrys first President on March 21,1990 and he was re-elected for two more terms in 1994 and 1999. Nujoma retired as SWAPO party president on November 30,2007 and he published his autobiography Where Others Wavered in 2005. He has received honors and awards for his outstanding leadership including the Lenin Peace Prize, Indira Gandhi Peace Prize. The Parliament of Namibia honored him with the titles Founding President of the Republic of Namibia, in 2007 SWAPO named him as Leader of the Namibian Revolution. Samuel Daniel Nujoma was born at Etunda, a village in Ongandjera, near the town of Okahao, Ovamboland, Nujoma was born to Helvi Mpingana Kondombolo and Daniel Uutoni Nujoma. He is the eldest of his parents eleven children and he spent much of his early childhood looking after his siblings and tending to the familys cattle and traditional farming activities. He started attending a Finnish missionary school at Okahao when he was ten and completed Standard Six, which was as high as possible for blacks during the time. In 1946, at age 17, he moved to Walvis Bay live with his aunt and he would later also work at a whaling station. While there he was exposed to politics by meeting soldiers from Argentina, Norway
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Vice-President of Namibia
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The Vice-President of Namibia is the acting President of Namibia when the President is outside the countrys borders, unable to fulfill the duties of the office, or when the Presidency is vacant. The Vice-President is also a member of the National Assembly and the Cabinet, the Vice-President is constitutionally required to assist the President in the execution of the functions of government, and may be assigned any government portfolio by presidential proclamation. The position of Vice-President was established in 2014 along with other constitutional amendments. The position is due to its unclear portfolio. The current Vice-President, appointed by President Hage Geingob is Nickey Iyambo
5.
Namibia
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Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south, although it does not border Zimbabwe, a part of less than 200 metres of the Zambezi River separates the two countries. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek, and it is a state of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union. The dry lands of Namibia were inhabited since early times by the San, Damara, since about the 14th century, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion. Since then the Bantu groups in total, known as the Ovambo people, have dominated the population of the country, in the late 19th century during European colonization, the German Empire established rule over most of the territory as a protectorate in 1884. It began to develop infrastructure and farming, and maintained this German colony until 1915, after the end of World War I, in 1920 the League of Nations mandated the country to the United Kingdom, under administration by South Africa. It imposed its laws, including racial classifications and rules, from 1948, with the National Party elected to power, South Africa applied apartheid also to what was known as South West Africa. In 1878 the Cape of Good Hope had annexed the port of Walvis Bay and the offshore Penguin Islands, following continued guerrilla warfare, South Africa installed an interim administration in Namibia in 1985. Namibia obtained full independence from South Africa in 1990, but Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994. Namibia has a population of 2.1 million people and a stable multi-party parliamentary democracy, Agriculture, herding, tourism and the mining industry – including mining for gem diamonds, uranium, gold, silver, and base metals – form the basis of its economy. The large, arid Namib Desert has resulted in Namibia being overall one of the least densely populated countries in the world, Namibia enjoys high political, economic and social stability. The name of the country is derived from the Namib Desert, before its independence in 1990, the area was known first as German South-West Africa, then as South-West Africa, reflecting the colonial occupation by the Germans and the South Africans. The dry lands of Namibia were inhabited since early times by San, Damara, from about the 14th century, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived during the Bantu expansion from central Africa. From the late 18th century onwards, Oorlam people from Cape Colony crossed the Orange River and their encounters with the nomadic Nama tribes were largely peaceful. The missionaries accompanying the Oorlam were well received by them, the right to use waterholes, on their way further northwards, however, the Oorlam encountered clans of the Herero at Windhoek, Gobabis, and Okahandja, who resisted their encroachment. The Nama-Herero War broke out in 1880, with hostilities ebbing only after the German Empire deployed troops to the places and cemented the status quo among the Nama, Oorlam. The first Europeans to disembark and explore the region were the Portuguese navigators Diogo Cão in 1485 and Bartolomeu Dias in 1486, like most of interior Sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia was not extensively explored by Europeans until the 19th century
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Politics of Namibia
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Executive power is exercised by both the President and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and the two chambers of Parliament, the judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Additional to the government political structure Namibia has a network of traditional leadership with currently 51 recognised traditional authorities and these authorities cover the entire Namibian territory. Traditional leaders are entrusted with the allocation of land and the formulation of the traditional groups customary laws. They also take over minor judicial work, the Constituent Assembly of Namibia produced a constitution which established a multi-party system and a bill of rights. It also limited the president to two five-year terms and provided for the private ownership of property. The three branches of government are subject to checks and balances, and a provision is made for judicial review, the constitution also states that Namibia should have a mixed economy, and foreign investment should be encouraged. The constitution is noted for being one of the first to incorporate protection of the environment into its text, Namibia is a democratic but one party dominant state with the South-West Africa Peoples Organisation in power. Opposition parties are allowed, but are considered to have no real chance of gaining power. The government is still organizing itself on both national and regional levels, the Constituent Assembly converted itself into the National Assembly on February 16,1990, retaining all the members elected on a straight party ticket. The Namibian head of state is the president, elected by popular vote every five years, Namibias founding president is Sam Nujoma, who was in office for three terms from 21 March 1990 until 21 March 2005. Hifikepunye Pohamba was Namibias second president serving from 2005 to 2015, since 2015 Hage Geingob has been President of Namibia. While the separation of powers is enshrined in the constitution, Namibias civil society. All cabinet members also sit in the National Assembly and dominate that body—not numerically, the government is headed by the prime minister, who, together with his cabinet, is appointed by the president. SWAPO, the force behind independence, is still the countrys largest party. Hage Geingob was Namibias first Prime Minister and he was appointed on 21 March 1990 and served until 28 August 2002. Theo-Ben Gurirab was Prime Minister from 28 August 2002 to 21 March 2005, since 21 March 2015, Hage Geingob is President of Namibia. The National Assembly has 78 members, elected for a term,72 members elected by proportional representation
7.
Constitution of Namibia
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The Constitution of Namibia is the constitution of the Republic of Namibia. Adopted in February 9,1990, a prior to Namibias independence from apartheid South Africa. Now therefore, we the people of Namibia accept and adopt this Constitution as the law of our Sovereign. The Constitution consists of 21 chapters totaling 148 articles, Constitution of Namibia First Amendment Second Amendment Third Amendment
8.
Government of Namibia
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The Government of Namibia consists of the executive, the legislative and the judiciary branches. The Cabinet is the organ of government, implementing the laws of the country. It consists of the President, the Prime Minister and his deputy, the legislative organs of government are the National Council and the National Assembly. They make the laws of the country, the judiciary organs of government are the courts. The highest court of Namibia is the Supreme Court, there is also the High Court, and lower courts. The Namibian government is partly centralised and partly regional, in the executive branch, Central government consists of ministries, offices and agencies, whereas regional government consists of Regional Councils, and constituencies within these. The legislation is centralised in the house, and regional in the upper house. The judiciary is centralised in the Supreme Court, whereas High Courts, the central executive branch of government consists of Offices, Ministries, and Agencies
