HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA

'Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba' (born August 18, 1935Profile of Pohamba, Klausdierks.com.National Assembly profile for Pohamba.) is the second and current President of Namibia.
He is a member of the South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) ruling party who won the 2004 presidential election with 76.4% of the vote,^[1] in what has been described as a "landslide".^[2] He was backed by long-time president Sam Nujoma, who was then serving his third five-year term; Pohamba has been described as Nujoma's hand-picked successor.^[3] Pohamba took office as president on March 21, 2005^[4] and has since distinguished himself by careful but decisive moves against corruption. Prior to this, he was the Minister of public land.

Contents

Early political career

Land policy

References

Early political career

As a child, he was educated at an Anglican mission. At the age of 25, Pohamba helped found SWAPO. He was arrested for his political activity but moved to Southern Rhodesia, where he was deported soon afterwards. He then spent four months in prison in NamibiaCurriculum Vitae for Pohamba, Namibian government website. 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 1990s and Namibia's independence, Pohamba represented SWAPO across Africa, although he studied politics in the former Soviet Union briefly. He headed SWAPO's election campaign [2] 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.^[5] He was elected as Secretary-General of SWAPO in 1997 and as Vice President of SWAPO in 2002. He served as Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation from early 2001 to 2005.

Land policy

Under Pohamba as Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Namibia initiated a policy of partial land exporiation from landed white farmers to landless black ones. This policy replaced the previous one of "willing buyer-willing seller". He is a close ally of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. [3]

References

1. Elections in Namibia, African Elections Database.
2. "Swapo man wins Namibia landslide", BBC.co.uk, November 21, 2004.
3. "Namibians Prepare to Vote", VOA News, November 14, 2004.
4. "Namibia Swears-in New President", VOA News, March 21, 2005.
5. "Nujoma names new cabinet", IRIN, March 20, 2000.