Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana

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Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana (born October 11, 1952[1]) is a Namibian politician and the Secretary-General of the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO).

Iivula-Ithana was born in Uukwandongo, Omusati Region.[1][2] She was active in the SWAPO Youth League[3] and was in exile from 1974 to 1989; she became Secretary of the SWAPO Women's Council in 1980.[2][3] Immediately prior to independence, she was a SWAPO member of the Constituent Assembly, which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990,[4] and since independence in March 1990 she has been a member of the National Assembly of Namibia.[1][2] She was Deputy Minister of Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism from 1990 to 1991, Minister of Youth and Sport from 1991 to 1996, and Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation from 1996[1][2][3] to 2001.[2][5] She was moved from the latter position to that of Attorney-General on January 26, 2001.[5] In March 2005, when President Hifikepunye Pohamba took office, she was appointed to the additional post of Minister of Justice.[1][6]

At SWAPO's August 2002 congress, Iivula-Ithana placed 23rd in the election for the Central Committee, receiving 310 votes.[7] She was elected as Secretary-General of SWAPO at the party's November 2007 congress, becoming the first woman to hold that position.[8] On this occasion it was also decided that the post of Secretary-General would become a full-time salaried position,[9] and consequently it is expected that Iivula-Ithana will leave her posts of Justice Minister and Attorney-General at the time of the next cabinet reshuffle.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Namibia Institute for Democracy profile.
  2. ^ a b c d e Profile at Namibian Parliament website.
  3. ^ a b c Biography at klausdierks.com.
  4. ^ List of members of the Constituent Assembly, parliament.gov.na.
  5. ^ a b "Namibia: President appoints ruling party secretary-general new land minister", Nampa (nl.newsbank.com), January 26, 2001.
  6. ^ Lindsay Dentlinger, "Justice Minister Iivula-Ithana cracks the whip", The Namibian, April 13, 2005.
  7. ^ "The ruling party's new Central Committee", The Namibian, August 27, 2002.
  8. ^ "Namibia: Pohamba for 2009 polls", Sapa (News24.com), December 4, 2007.
  9. ^ Brigitte Weidlich, "A title for Nujoma, brickbats for media", The Namibian, December 3, 2007.
  10. ^ Gwen Lister, "Political Perspective", The Namibian, January 11, 2008.
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