The narrative surrounding the emergence of Ndahafa Tuyeimo Nghatanga from being the Ministry of Justice’s messenger to the pinnacle of senior private secretary in the Government Attorney’s office is awe-inspiring.

Nghatanga, known among her peers as Ndahafa, is a proud public servant whose journey is a true testimony that any goal in the public service is attainable with passion, dedication and hard work.

She started working for the government in 2002, just a few months after completing grade 12.  Her first job was as a messenger – a job she accepted because she needed funds to upgrade her grade 12 points.

Due to her unyielding determination, Nghatanga was later elevated to an assistant administrative officer and then to administrative officer, before landing the position of senior private secretary in the Government Attorney’s office. 

She performs secretarial work, and provides the office with day-to-day administrative support. 

“We should be called legal private secretaries because we deal mostly with court documents.  Therefore, in the office of the Government Attorney, the drafting and typing work that we do is specialised for this specific office,” she observed.

At the office of the Government Attorney, Nghatanga is responsible for following up with clients on outstanding matters and information requested by the attorney’s office.  Drafting letters, making appointments, taking messages and minutes at meetings as well as typing court documents, scanning and uploading court documents on the e-justice system are among her responsibilities. She is likewise responsible for indexing and paginating court documents, as well as making sure that the court documents and letters are delivered.

Getting started

Born in exile, she grew up in Nyango, Lusaka, Zambia. Nghatanga returned to Namibia in the early 90s with her family members, who continue to live with her in Windhoek.

She considers her family as an inspiration, saying, “Basically, they are the ones who groomed me to be the person that I am today; to be hardworking and to remain humble, no matter the circumstances that you find yourself in. That is not to look down on people, no matter whether they are well-off or not,” she said.

She then attended the St. Andrews Primary School from grade 3 to grade 6.

The following year, Nghatanga moved to the Namutoni Primary School for grade 7, and completed her school journey at Jan Jonker Afrikaner Secondary School, where she attended from grades 8 to 12.

Her career started at the Polytechnic of Namibia (now NUST), where she completed a Certificate in Office Management, and thereafter a diploma in the same course. Besides that, Nghatanga holds a Higher Certificate in Paralegal Studies from Southern Business School (now Stadio) and a Bachelor of Laws Honours Degree from the University of Namibia.

Queried why she chose to work in the public service, Nghatanga does not shy away from the fact that working for the state comes with attractive perks which can be enticing for anyone.

“I have served the public service in various capacities, and it is very satisfying to know that there is growth, albeit at a slow pace.  However, you will learn a lot by just being in the public service if you put your mind to it, as you are exposed to a lot of areas of work.  Considering that nobody was supporting me financially due to my father’s death, I had to find a job to survive,” she revealed.

Challenges

But this job is not without challenges, and for Nghatanga what is most challenging is when they must meet court deadlines.  

“Our office deals with all the government offices, ministries and agencies in the whole country.  Therefore, we deal with all their legal court cases which are brought against them.  That could be labour, civil, criminal, etc. We deal with that on behalf of the employees who are working for government offices, ministries and agencies in their official capacities.  It is, therefore, challenging with the few resources that we have in the office,” she continued.

Nghatanga points out that what is satisfying is when the legal officers win cases in favour of the government, and get costs in that regard. 

“The satisfaction is great when a client leaves our offices happy that their concerns have been resolved amicably,” she said.

With regards to her work-related accomplishments, Nghatanga points out the recognition she received for her hard work, which was awarded by way of promotions. 

“In all the years that I have stayed within the ministry, I was promoted three times. However, it should be noted that in all those accomplishments, academic achievement is also included.  That means that one is not promoted without academic qualification,” she noted.

Nghatanga already decided that the government would be her “retirement home”. 

On her bucket list is to be admitted as a practising legal practitioner to serve in both the High Court and Supreme Court of Namibia.