Lempy Lucas, also: Lukas, (born 7 November 1961 in Eendombe,

Omusati Region Omusati ( ng, Mopane, after the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in this region. , ...

) 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. A member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

from 2000 until 2015, Lucas is a member of 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). She has held a number of Deputy Minister positions in Namibia's government, she currently is Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry. She had previously been a

SWAPO Party Youth League The SWAPO Party Youth League (SPYL), formerly known as the SWAPO Youth League (SYL), is the youth wing of the SWAPO Party, the ruling party of Namibia since 1990.Swapo party constitution It shares the same principles as those of the SWAPO Party. ...

activist.

Career

Lucas joined SWAPO in 1979 and fled shortly thereafter to

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

, where she studied. In 1982, she earned a diploma in Youth Administration from

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. She then returned to Angola in the mid-1980s, where she worked as an administrator at the SWAPO Health and Education Centre at Kwanza-Sul. In 1986 she was reassigned to

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

, where she worked in the SWAPO headquarters until independence in 1989. From 1990 to 2002, Lucas served as an important figure in the SWAPO Party Youth League. In 1997, she joined the SWAPO Central Committee. In 2004, she was appointed to the position of Deputy Foreign Minister. She was then a resident of

Ohangwena Region Ohangwena is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Eenhana. Major settlements in the region are the towns Eenhana and Helao Nafidi aa well as the self-governed village of Okongo. , Ohangwena had 150,724 registered voters. Ohang ...

. Following the 2009 parliamentary elections, Lucas was redeployed as Deputy Minister of Defence. In the Cabinet reshuffle following the fifth SWAPO congress in 2012, Lucas swapped positions with

Petrus Iilonga Petrus Iilonga (8 January 1947 – 11 December 2018) was a Namibian politician as well as a trade union leader and political prisoner in Robben Island. A member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Iilonga served as Deputy Mi ...

and is now the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry. In the 2014 parliamentary elections, Lucas did not gain a seat in parliament. Her portfolio of Deputy minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry was split and taken over by

Theo Diergaardt Vivian Theo Diergaardt (1969/1970 – 22 July 2020) was a Namibian politician and Member of Parliament. He was Deputy Minister of Lands and Resettlement from 2011 to 2015. Life and career Diergaardt grew up in Rehoboth and attended school there ...

and

Anna Shiweda Anna Ndahambelela Shiweda (born 11 June 1958) is a member of the Namibian legislature and a deputy minister of Agriculture, Water and Land reform since 2015. She served as member of National Assembly from 2015 to 2020. Education Shiweda is a h ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Lempy 1961 births Living people People from Omusati Region People from Ohangwena Region Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) SWAPO politicians Government ministers of Namibia 20th-century Namibian women politicians 20th-century Namibian politicians 21st-century Namibian women politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians Women government ministers of Namibia Namibian exiles Namibian expatriates in Angola Namibian expatriates in East Germany Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia)