Rosalia Annette Nghidinwa (26 October 1952 – 14 January 2018) was 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.Profile
, Namibia Institute for Democracy website; accessed 16 January 2018. Born in

Nkurenkuru Nkurenkuru (1.093 m above sea level) is a town on the south-western banks of the Kavango River. It is the capital of the Kavango West Region of northern Namibia, located west of Rundu. It is also a former Mission (station), mission station of the ...

Kavango Region Kavango (before 1998: Okavango) was one of the thirteen regions of Namibia until it was split into the Kavango East and Kavango West Regions in 2013. Its capital was Rundu. In the north, Kavango bordered the Cuando Cubango Province of Angola, and ...

, Nghidinwa joined

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 ...

in 1974 at the age of 22. A health worker by profession, Nghidinwa ran several community health centres in the

Okavango Region Kavango (before 1998: Okavango) was one of the thirteen regions of Namibia until it was split into the Kavango East and Kavango West Regions in 2013. Its capital was Rundu. In the north, Kavango bordered the Cuando Cubango Province of Angola, and ...

for the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) is a Lutheran denomination based in Namibia. It has a total membership of over 772,398, mainly in Northern Namibia. Formerly known as the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC), it pla ...

(ELCIN). She represented the ELCIN at the Lutheran World Conference in 1987 and served on the Church's governing council from 1991 to 1996. She was a 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 close ...

since 2000. She also entered

cabinet of Namibia The Cabinet of Namibia is an appointed body that was established by Chapter 6 (Articles 35-42) of the Constitution of Namibia. It is mandated to include the following positions: the President of Namibia, the Prime Minister of Namibia and any pos ...

after being appointed deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare from 2000 to 2005. In 2005 she was promoted to Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, and in December 2012 she was moved to head the

Ministry of Gender Equality and Social Welfare (Namibia) The Ministry of Gender Equality and Social Welfare is a department of the Namibian government. It was established in 2000 under the name Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare, before that the portfolio was a directorate in the Office of th ...

. Nghidinwa was awarded the

Most Excellent Order of the Eagle The Republic of Namibia has an honours system comprising orders, medals, military decorations, and police decorations. Legislation also provides for the establishment of decorations and medals for the intelligence service,Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

hospital on 14 January 2018 after suffering from cancer.

References

1952 births 2018 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) People from Kavango Region Namibian Lutherans SWAPO politicians Home affairs ministers of Namibia Gender equality and social welfare ministers of Namibia 21st-century Namibian women politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians Women government ministers of Namibia Female interior ministers Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Deaths from cancer in Namibia 20th-century Lutherans {{Namibia-politician-stub