To help the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) build legal, policy and regulatory framework, to ensure that Namibians enjoy full socio economic benefits deriving from Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), is what 29-year-old Emilia Ndateelela Nghikembua aspires to.
An ICT knowledgeable, the Ogongo Agricultural College born and raised but originally from Endola in the Ohangwena region ITC whizz brain, Nghikembua attended the then Erundu Primary School in Oshakati, and later went to Oshigambo High School. She studied law at the University of Namibia, where she obtained a Bachelor of Jurisprudence, Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws (Cum Laude). She is currently in her last year towards a Master of Arts (ICT Policy and Regulation) at the Witwatersrand University in South Africa. She grew up at the college, which is like a farm. “We commuted to school in Oshakati every day and only got home late in the afternoon. We grew up doing household chores and spend a lot of time on our school work because my parents are born educators,” she shares. Although Nghikembua was involved in a number of projects as a student assistant, her first formal job was with the then Ueitele and Hans Legal Practitioners where she worked as a candidate legal practitioner.
One of her greatest challenges was the fact that she didn’t have any form of external financial assistance to pay for her studies, relying only on her parents. “So many people have assisted me along the way; my parents realised my potential from a young age and made so many sacrifices to make sure we got a good education. I always strive to be what they would have been, if they had the same opportunities that they worked so hard to provide me with. They remain my greatest inspiration. My dearest husband for always encouraging me and for teaching me that with love, hope has wings,” she appreciates. Nghikembua believes that ICT is the future as it can be used to bridge the digital divide and in turn the socioeconomic divide. Her vision is to be Namibia’s first fully trained and specialised ICT Policy and Regulation lawyer, and to contribute to creating a framework in which ICT will be used to improve the socioeconomic circumstances of all Namibians. “What keeps me going is a promise that God made to me when I was born “that I am made for great things, that he has given me what I need to realise my greatness, that he will always walk with me, and that his love for me is never ending. My passion is for my work to always speak for itself and when its all said and done, those that come after me must say, here was a great ICT lawyer”.
Nghikembua would like to use the words of John Maxwell in motivating fellow youths, to the effect: “Dare to dream – have the desire to do something bigger than yourself; Prepare the dream: do your homework; be ready when the opportunity comes; Wear the dream: Do it; Share the dream: Make others a part of the dream and it will become even greater than you had hoped.” She was a Candidate Legal Practitioner in Private Practice and later joined the University of Namibia (Unam) as a lecturer in the Department of Commercial Law. She left Unam to join the Transformation Project Team that was tasked to oversee the establishment of CRAN. She was then later appointed as Legal Advisor, a position she is currently holding and at the same time acting as the Head of Legal Advice.
“My only challenge in the corporate world has been that I have always been perceived as too young (maybe even too short) but with time I have learnt, it’s not your age that matters, but the knowledge and wisdom that one puts on the table. If you practice your trait well, people will have respect for your work,” she resigns.