Reverend Willem Konjore (30 July 1945—10 June 2021) 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. He was a member and a deputy speaker 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 ...

, and served in cabinet from 2005 to 2010.

Early life and education

Konjore was born on 30 July 1945 in Kais, a small settlement in what today is the

ǁKaras Region The ǁKaras Region (pronounced , with a lateral click) is the southernmost and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain ra ...

. He trained as a teacher from 1966 to 1967 at St Joseph's Teacher Training Centre in Döbra and studied theology in the Diocese of Keetmanshoop and Mariental from 1976 to 1979. From 1968 to 1990 he worked at several schools, first as teacher in

Tses Tses is a village in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia with a population of approximately 1000; probably 1000 more live in the surrounding semi-desert farming hinterland. It is situated one kilometre off the main B1 highway from Windhoek ...

in southern Namibia and later as principal and manager in

Khorixas Khorixas is a town of 6,000 inhabitants in southern Kunene Region, Namibia. It was the capital of the Damaraland bantustan before Namibia's independence. It is the administrative capital of Khorixas Constituency. Most of the inhabitants are fro ...

Political career

A member of SWAPO, Konjore was a member of the

beginning with the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

in 1989 and ending following the election of the

5th National Assembly 5th National Assembly may refer to: * 5th National Assembly of France * 5th National Assembly of Laos * 5th National Assembly at Nafplion * 5th National Assembly of Namibia * 5th National Assembly of Nigeria * 5th National Assembly of Pakistan ...

in 2010. He served as deputy speaker of this body from 2000 to 2005. He was appointed Minister of Environment and Tourism in 2005, and was moved to the Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture portfolio in 2008. Konjore was married to Elsie Atanasia Konjore from

Vaalgras Vaalgras ( af, pale grass) is a village in Namibia's ǁKaras Region. Located northeast of Keetmanshoop, the village is also home of the ''Vaalgras Traditional Authority''. It is home to a community of the Oorlam people, a group descends from the ...

. They had five children. His wife died in 2013. On

Heroes' Day Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the birthday of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that ...

2014 he was conferred the Most Brilliant Order of the Sun, Second Class. Willem Konjore died on 10 June 2021 in

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 202 ...

References

1945 births 2021 deaths People from ǁKaras Region Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Namibian educators Namibian clergy SWAPO politicians Environment and tourism ministers of Namibia Youth ministers of Namibia Sports ministers of Namibia Culture ministers of Namibia {{Namibia-politician-stub