Doreen Nampiye Sioka (born 1960) is a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n politician. She is member of the

National Assembly of Namibia The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of clos ...

since 1994 for the

South West Africa People's Organization 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 ...

(SWAPO), and a member of the cabinet since 2005, serving as Minister of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare.

Early life and exile

Sioka was born on 18 September 1960 in Kasheshe village in the

Zambezi Region The Zambezi Region is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country. It is largely concurrent with the major Zambezi River where it gets its name from. The region has eight constituencies and its capi ...

and attended primary school in her home village. At age 15, she went into exile in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

, due to the ongoing conflict in

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

between the apartheid led military and the Namibian freedom fighters. When she was injured in a

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

raid on Oshatotwa in 1976 she decided to join the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the Sou ...

, during which she participated in the attacks on

Katima Mulilo Katima Mulilo or simply Katima is the capital of the Zambezi Region in Namibia. It is located in the Caprivi Strip. It had 28,362 inhabitants in 2010, and comprises two electoral constituencies, Katima Mulilo Rural and Katima Mulilo Urban. I ...

in 1977 and 1978 as one of only three female insurgents. After the 1978 attack she worked for

Voice of Namibia Voice of Namibia (VoN) was a pirate radio station propagating Namibian independence, and the political mouthpiece of the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) during the Namibian War of Independence. It operated from 1966 until Namibian ...

, SWAPO's exile radio station, and furthered her education. She received a certificate in journalism and library information in

Ndola Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia and third in terms of size and population, with a population of 475,194 (''2010 census provisional''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development aft ...

and completed secondary school at Roosevelt Secondary School for Girls in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. Sioka then worked as teacher at

Namibia Health and Education Centre Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

in Kwanza-Sul,

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, until shortly before Namibian independence.

Political career

After independence of Namibia in 1989 Sioka held several political roles in SWAPO's Women's Council. She was elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in 1994, and to SWAPO Central Committee in 1997. In 2005, Sioka was elected deputy speaker of the 4th National Assembly. After the 2009 general election Sioka was appointed Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, and in a cabinet reshuffle in December 2012, following the fifth SWAPO congress, her portfolio as minister was changed to that of Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, replacing

Immanuel Ngatjizeko Immanuel Ngatjizeko (30 May 1952 – 5 March 2022) was a Namibian politician and member of the ruling SWAPO Party. He held five ministerial portfolios from 2003 until his retirement in 2018. Early life and education Immanuel Ngatjizeko was born ...

. When

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 201 ...

became president in 2015, Sioka was returned to the position of Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare. She retained the position after Geingob appointed his cabinet during a second term. In 2020, ShutItAllDown protesters demanded for her resignation after they claimed she could not resolve the issue of

gender based violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

in Namibia.

Private life

Doreen Sioka is married with three children. Besides her degrees earned during her time of exile she also completed two correspondence courses, and earned a high diploma and certificate in defence and security from Cambridge Tutorial College and a diploma in business administration from

Management College of Southern Africa The Management College of Southern Africa (MANCOSA) is a distance education institution located in Durban, South Africa. It is a private higher education institution, established in 1995 as a post-apartheid empowerment institution, offering af ...

(MANCOSA).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sioka, Doreen 1960 births Living people People from Zambezi Region Labour ministers of Namibia Gender equality and social welfare ministers of Namibia Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel Management College of Southern Africa alumni Namibian expatriates in Zambia Namibian expatriates in Angola African women in war Women in warfare post-1945 Namibian exiles SWAPO politicians 20th-century Namibian women politicians 20th-century Namibian politicians 21st-century Namibian women politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians Women government ministers of Namibia