Matheus Kristof Shikongo (26 June 1950 – 13 May 2021) was a Namibian politician and businessman. A member of

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

, Shikongo was the

mayor of Windhoek The city of Windhoek, capital of South West Africa, then Namibia, was officially founded on 18 October 1890 by Curt Karl Bruno von François, an Imperial German Colonial Official in the ''Schutztruppe'', to serve as capital of German South West A ...

, Namibia's capital, in 1993 and from 2000 to 2010. He helped establish the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) and served on the boards of several companies, among them NamPower,

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...

Namibia, and

Bank Windhoek Bank Windhoek Limited, commonly referred to as Bank Windhoek, is a registered commercial bank in Namibia, which is licensed by the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to operate in the country. It provides financial services to its clients in Namibia which inc ...

Life and career

Shikongo was born on 26 June 1950, in

Ondangwa Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missionary Society (the FMS) in 1890. In 1914, it became ...

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts of ...

(today Oshana Region). He completed school at Ongwediva High School and went first into trading, then banking, insurance and entertainment. He also owned a farm near Tsumeb.Matheus Shikongo
at Namibia Institute for Democracy Shikongo worked for Metropolitan Life from 1985 to 1991, and became branch manager. He later served as board member of the Namibian branch. Shikongo died from COVID-19 related causes on 13 May 2021.

Mayor of Windhoek

Shikongo became

councillor in Windhoek in the 1992 local election and was subsequently elected

for the year 1993, the first black person to serve in this role. He was reelected as councillor in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. In 2000 he was elected mayor again and held this position until 2010, making him the longest-serving mayor of Windhoek. On July 6, 2000, Shikongo signed a treaty with

Eberhard Diepgen Eberhard Diepgen (born 13 November 1941) is a German lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of West Berlin from 1984 to 1989 and again as Mayor of (united) Berlin, from 1991 until 2001, as member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). E ...

, the mayor of Berlin, signifying the Twin city partnership between the two. Shikongo was one of several Windhoek politicians "withdrawn" by SWAPO in February and March 2009 for suspected loyalty to the opposition Rally for Democracy and Progress. However, it remained unclear if he would be reinstated due to procedural problems regarding his removal. Also, Shikongo was believed to have significant political support among Ovambo people born outside of the cultural

, known as Eembwiti. Many Eembwiti live in Katutura, a township of Windhoek. In December 2010, Shikongo was replaced as mayor by fellow member of SWAPO and deputy mayor

Elaine Trepper Elaine Trepper is a Namibian politician. In December 2010, she was sworn in as the mayor of Windhoek. Trepper is the 9th mayor and the first Black female mayor of Namibia's largest city and capital. A member of SWAPO The South West Africa Pe ...

. New Era, 6 December 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shikongo, Matheus 1950 births 2021 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia People from Oshana Region Ovambo people SWAPO politicians Mayors of Windhoek 20th-century Namibian politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians