In 2015, the politics of Namibia were largely dominated by the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) party, which had been in power since the 1990 election. The party was led by President Hifikepunye Pohamba and focused on a range of social and economic reforms, such as reducing poverty and improving access to education. The party also sought to promote Namibia’s reputation as an emerging market, and to improve its relationship with other countries in the region. Other political parties included the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), as well as several smaller parties. See ehealthfacts for Namibia in the year of 2005.
The 2015 election was held in November of that year and saw SWAPO win a majority in both chambers of Parliament with 77 out of 96 seats. This ensured that they would remain in power for another five years. During this time, President Pohamba sought to implement further reforms to improve Namibia’s economic standing while ensuring social justice for all citizens. He also worked towards improving relations with other countries in the region and strengthening ties with international organizations such as the United Nations. In 2019, he was succeeded by Hage Geingob following a successful presidential election campaign.
Yearbook 2015
Namibia. In March, President Hifikepunye Pohamba resigned after serving the two terms of office allowed by the Constitution. The following month he also made his position as party chairman for SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization) available. In both positions he was succeeded by Hage Geingob, who in 1990 became the country’s first prime minister, a position he held until 2002 and 2012-15. According to COUNTRYAAH, Windhoek is the capital of Namibia which is located in Southern Africa. Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was appointed new Prime Minister, thus becoming the first woman in the post. In March, Pohamba was awarded the 2014 Mo Ibrahim Award for African Leadership (Ibrahim Award).
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Namibia country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
In June, Namibia together with 26 other African countries agreed on a new free trade agreement, the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). The agreement was signed in Egypt and includes countries from Egypt in the north to South Africa in the south. For the agreement to enter into force, it must, among other things, be ratified by the national parliaments.
In July, the government signed an agreement with the Affirmative Repositioning Action Group, which works to give people access to land for housing. Namibia suffers from a severe housing shortage and in January over 1,000 people occupied undeveloped land in the city of Swakopmund. The following month, Affirmative Repositioning stated that 50,000 people had filed for land. The agreement, which was signed in July, includes plans to create 200,000 new housing units in the country’s cities, after which activists backed from their previous threat of carrying out land occupations throughout the country.
History. – Even in the 1960s, the territory of Namibia, known at the time as South West Africa, continued to be administered by the Republic of South Africa, whose government persisted in contempt of UN resolutions, increasingly demanding international control. on the former mandate of the League of Nations and the abolition or progressive attenuation of the apartheid regimein place. The government of Pretoria actively favored the economic progress of the territory, which led to significant investments by multinationals already operating in South Africa itself; elementary education was appreciably developed with the use of different local languages, thus preserving the heterogeneity between the different ethnic groups; from this derived the same weakness of African national movements: the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO), which in 1960 took the place of the Ovamboland People’s Organization (OPO), and the South West Africa National Union (SWANU), an expression above all of the populations Herero and Mbanderu.
On 18 July 1966 the International Court in The Hague rejected the action introduced in 1960 by Liberia and Ethiopia against South Africa on a legal level, but on 27 October the UN withdrew the mandate on the territory, claiming the right to administer it (for this purpose a Committee of 11 members was created, which could not in fact exercise any power); in June 1968 the UN Assembly renamed the territory as Namibia, from the Namib Desert. Between 1967 and 1968 the repression against nationalist exponents intensified (among others the president of SWANU, G. Veil was arrested), ignoring any condemnation of the UN, whose representatives were not allowed access to the North. ; on the contrary, since 1968 the government of Pretoria proceeded to the progressive administrative and financial integration of the Namibia, reducing it (in particular through the South West Africa Affairs Act of 1969) to a fifth province of South Africa (the powers of the local Legislative Assembly, made up of whites only, were completely reduced). On the other hand, starting in 1967, accepting the proposals presented in 1964 by the Odendaal Commission, the process of creating in Namibia of ten Bantustans (units destined to collect the different ethnic groups that will take over the administration), first of which the ‘Ovambo, with its own government and flag since 1973, but still controlled by South Africa. The creation of the Bantustans (the Kavango, autonomous in May 1973, the East Caprivi, the Damaraland, the Hereroland) met with difficulties due to the widespread dissent of some interested populations.
Guerrilla action began in the 1970s, especially in the Caprivi Strip, organized by nationalist movements, and at the same time local demonstrations against South African politics were recorded (a major strike at the end of 1971). By decision of the Security Council, the UN Secretary General had contact in 1972-73 with the South African government and inquired about the aspirations of the various groups of the Namibia, but without arriving at any result. The South African government, continuing its policy, has meanwhile set up an advisory council in Namibia (March 1973) boycotted by some ethnic groups and opposed by African organizations, united in a national convention, which claims the unity and independence of Namibia. The Bantustans project met with equal opposition; in particular, the implementation of the Ovambo (whose prime minister was assassinated in August 1975) was opposed. The South African government, while continuing to crack down on the African opposition, lifted some restrictions and discrimination; the constitutional conference, launched in September 1975, ended in March 1977 with the decision to make the territory independent by 1978, but this prospect is completely undermined by the absence of the SWAPO from the negotiations, which has passed to guerrilla operations.