Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Ngatjizeko laid to rest in home village

Home National Ngatjizeko laid to rest in home village
Ngatjizeko laid to rest in home village

Former cabinet minister and renowned Swapo activist Immanuel Ngatjizeko was buried on Saturday in his home village of Otjohorongo in the Omaruru constituency, Erongo region. Ngatjizeko died on 5 March at the age of 69.

The State burial, attended by Vice President Nangolo Mbumba, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Chief Justice Peter Shivute, Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa, and leader of the official opposition, Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) McHenry Venaani was marked by the national anthem and a 17-gun salute by the Namibian Defence Force (NDF).

The burial was also witnessed by Ngatjizeko’s family members, regional governors, senior government officials, foreign dignitaries, tribal chiefs and Namibians from all walks of life.

“It is said that good men must die, but death cannot kill their names. Today, we remember and mourn a good man, a man of impeccable character and an exemplar of grit, determination, and sacrifice. 

“This is a man who was a son, a father, a brother, an uncle, a comrade and a friend. This is a man who we knew as Immanuel Uarotua Ngatjizeko. Death may have robbed us of his physical presence but it will never kill his name or rob us of the everlasting memories he has left behind,” said President Hage Geingob, whose message was delivered by Mbumba.

After completing his matric at Augustineum Secondary School in 1972, Ngatjizeko enrolled at Fort Hare University in South Africa, where he completed a Diploma in Commerce and Administration in 1974. 

Geingob said while pursuing his studies towards a Bachelor of Commerce degree, Ngatjizeko’s academic ambition collided with destiny as the historic June 1976 Soweto student protest not only interrupted his studies but became a catalyst for uprising and revolution in South Africa and Namibia. 

“The milieu at the time, exemplified by the events in Soweto, roused a fire inside the inner being of the young comrade Ngatjizeko, awakening an indomitable spirit and a burning desire to become a freedom fighter and join the struggle for Namibia’s independence,” Geingob said.

“And so he did, sacrificing the opportunity of further studies in order to join Swapo in 1976 as a political activist,” he added.

“To some, that price was giving up a job, giving up on education but to others, it meant leaving Namibia. To all that joined the struggle, it meant that you may have to pay the highest price of all – giving up your life,” Geingob said. 

Ngatjizeko was elected to the Swapo executive committee of the Windhoek branch and shortly thereafter, to the Swapo national executive. Ngatjizeko served as the administrative and organising secretary of Swapo. After independence, he was elected to the Swapo central committee in 1991. He served as mayor of Windhoek from 1999 to 2000, before becoming a member of parliament in 2000 and joining cabinet in 2003. In 2007, he was elected to the Swapo politburo. 

At the government level, Ngatjizeko served as a deputy minister of mines and energy, director general of the National Planning Commission (NPC) during the period of 2000 to 2005. 

In 2005, he was appointed as the minister of trade and industry before taking up the portfolio of minister of labour and social welfare in 2008, a position he held until 2012 before becoming the minister of safety and security, and briefly minister in the presidency.