Namibia Government and Politics

According to AllCityCodes.com, Namibia gained independence and its first constitution in 1990, changed 1998. According to this, Namibia is a democratic and unified state republic. The regime is presidential, with the president not only the head of state but also the leader of the executive and military commander. The president is elected in the general election for five years. The Legislature has been appointed a national assembly of 72 members, elected in the general election for five years. The Assembly also has six non-voting members, nominated by the President. Namibia has a modified two-chamber system, insofar as a National Council (in force from 1993), made up of two representatives from each of the country’s 13 regions and elected for six years, is to decide on all legislative proposals and can also take the initiative on their own of regional interest.

Namibia Country Flag

Reference: Namibia Flag Meaning

Administrative division

Namibia is divided into 13 regions, each led by a governor and elected regional councils. Also see AbbreviationFinder for abbreviation of NA and its meanings of Namibia.

Judiciary

The judiciary encompasses the Supreme Court, the Superior Court and locally a number of magistrate and judiciary. The judiciary works relatively professionally. The Constitution also states that an Ombudsman should be appointed.

History and Politics

Namibia as one of the “cradles of mankind”

It is believed that the first people lived in Namibia and that Namibia could thus be one of the “cradles of mankind”.

Early on, the San, Bushmen, settled in what is now Namibia, and we can still find out about them today through the rock drawings that can be admired in Namibia.

In the 15th century, Bantus, shepherds from Central and East Africa, came to the north of what is now Namibia. These were mainly the Herero and Ovambo tribes, whose descendants still live in Namibia today. The Nama from the south also moved to Namibia.

The Boers and the Germans in “Namibia”

In the 17th century, the Boers from the Netherlands, who had previously settled in South Africa, also came to Namibia. They built a city that was heavily exposed to the wind and was therefore called a “windy corner”. This city is still the capital of the country under the name “Windhoek”.

Namibia was one of the last countries in Africa to be colonized by the whites. The Germans in particular showed great interest in this large country in southwest Africa. So it came about that German South West Africa became a German colony.

What does “German Protected Area” mean?

From 1884 to 1914, i.e. the beginning of the First World War, Namibia was a “German Protected Area”. German settlers should settle here and cultivate the land. But the black population didn’t want to just give up their land. At the beginning one tried to conclude so-called “protection contracts” with the locals. These should allow the colonization of the whites and in return receive protection from German troops.

But both the Herero and the Nama had to realize that these were only pretended reasons. The German settlers only wanted to make use of their land by enslaved or expelled the population. Heavy uprisings broke out, which were suppressed by the Germans. The Herero were driven into the desert and died of hunger and thirst there. We are now talking about the genocide of the Herero and Nama, committed by German troops. You can find out more about this at www.zeitklicks.de.

The pursuit of freedom

In 1914 the First World War broke out and German South West Africa was occupied by South Africa. The League of Nations awarded the country to South Africa as a mandate area in 1920. Political administration was in the hands of the South Africans, who followed apartheid policies. This was also noticeable in Namibia (which was not yet called Namibia at the time).

It was not until 1966 that the UN revoked this mandate. There were violent clashes between the Namibian freedom movement SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization) and South Africa. The UN supported the SWAPO.

Independent Namibia: better late than never

Namibia was the last African country to achieve political independence and thus a democratic constitution on March 21, 1990. It was decided to name the country Namibia after the Namib desert on the coast of the country. The first free elections had previously taken place in November 1989, in which SWAPO received 57 percent of the vote.

First President of Namibia

The first President of Namibia was Dr. Sam Nujoma. He was the leader of SWAPO. Namibia became the 151st member of the United Nations and also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Namibia did not receive its own currency until 1993: the Namibia dollar. However, this is closely linked to the South African currency, the rand, as both countries are economically closely linked.

President for five years

Nujoma resigned from office in 2005. Up until that point, he had been re-elected. The opposition criticized his policies. Nevertheless, he brought peace and a certain political stability to the young Namibian state and, above all, advocated reconciliation between the white and black population.

In Namibia, the president is elected directly by the people every five years. Hifikepunye Pohamba succeeded Nujoma in 2005. The third President of Namibia has been Hage Gottfried Geingob since 2015.

Namibia Head of Government

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