2009 in Namibia refers to the events which occurred and will occur in the year of 2009 in the

Republic of 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 ...

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Hifikepunye Pohamba Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1936) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and wa ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Nahas Angula Nahas Gideon Angula (born 22 August 1943)Profile on Namibian parliamen ...

* Chief Justice:

Peter Shivute Peter Sam Shivute (born 25 September 1963) is a Namibian judge who is currently serving as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Namibia since 1 December 2004. He is the first black Namibian to be appointed to this position. Early life and ...

Disasters

President

declared a state of emergency in much of Northern Namibia on 19 March following the deaths of 90 people due to flooding. The flooding was considered some of the worst in memory and food shortages were possible. Thousands were displaced. An oil spill occurred off the coast of

Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, includi ...

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

in April.

Economics

In January, the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...

predicted economic growth would drop by 50% in 2009, from 4% to 2% due to the

global recession A global recession is recession that affects many countries around the world—that is, a period of global economic slowdown or declining economic output. Definitions The International Monetary Fund defines a global recession as "a decline i ...

. Projections were cut again in March, down to 1.2% growth, according to Minister of Finance

Saara Kuugongelwa Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila (born 12 October 1967) is the Prime Minister of Namibia, in office since 21 March 2015. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila is a member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). She has been a member of the National As ...

. This was credited to a decrease in mining activities across the country.

Politics

Independence celebrations

President Pohamba and other members of the ruling SWAPO party led celebrations in

Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a city in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. It is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and benefactor of the city. History Befo ...

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 rang ...

on 21 March 2009. 21 March marked the 19th year of independence.

Election

The 2009 general election will take place in November. Namibians outside of the country will be able to vote on 13 November, while the election dates inside of the country will 27–28 November. Two candidates, current President

of the

SWAPO party 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 ...

and former cabinet minister

Hidipo Hamutenya Hidipo Livius Hamutenya (17 June 1939 – 6 October 2016) was a Namibian politician. A long time leading member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hamutenya was a member of the Cabinet of Namibia from independence in 1990 to ...

of the Rally for Democracy and Progress were confirmed by their party's as candidates for president for the election while other parties were expected to announce their candidates later in the year.

Sport

Boxing

On 2 January, boxer

Paulus Moses Paulus Moses (born 4 June 1978) is a Namibian professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) lightweight title from 2009 to 2010. He retired on 20 October 2018, shortly after losing his WBO Africa middleweight fight in Accra, Ghana. Professiona ...

beat

Yusuke Kobori is a retired professional boxer from Japan and a former WBA lightweight champion. Kobori won the Japanese super featherweight title on January 14, 2006 by knocking out Keita Manabe in the second round. He went on to defend it 6 times. Later, h ...

of Japan to win the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Box ...

(WBA) lightweight title.

Cricket

In March, the

Namibia national cricket team The Namibia national cricket team, nicknamed the Eagles, is the men's team that represents the Republic of Namibia in international cricket. It is organised by Cricket Namibia which became an associate member of the International Cricket ...

lost twice to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Wanderers Stadium The Wanderers Stadium (Imperial Wanderers due to sponsorship reasons and affectionately known as the Bullring due to its intimidating atmosphere) is a stadium situated just south of Sandton in Illovo, Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Extreme sports

In May,

4 Deserts The 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series is an annual series of four 250-kilometer (155-mile) races across deserts around the globe. The races were recognized as the world's leading endurance footrace series by ''TIME'' magazine in 2009 and 2010, as the ...

will host RacingThePlanet: Namibia 2009, which is a 7-day, 6 stage footrace between

and

in ǁKaras Region, southern Namibia.

Rugby

The

Namibia national rugby union team The Namibia national rugby union team represents Namibia in men's international rugby union competitions nicknamed the Welwitschias, are a tier-two nation in the World Rugby tier system, and have participated in five Rugby World Cup competi ...

qualified for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

by sweeping matches against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Football

The

Namibia national football team The Namibia national football team represents Namibia in men's international football and is controlled by the Namibia Football Association. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but have made three appearances in the Africa Cup o ...

, also known as the Brave Warriors, played in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

against

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

on 1 April and in

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 ...

against

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

on 4 April in the seventh annual peace celebrations, which marked the end of the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war wa ...

. The

Namibian Newspaper Cup The Namibian Newspaper Cup is an under-20 football (soccer) tournament for the top men's U-20 players in Namibia. It also promotes women's football in Namibia by holding a match between top Namibian women's squad prior to the final. it is sponsored ...

was held from 10 to 13 April at

Sam Nujoma Stadium Sam Nujoma Stadium (also called the Sam Nujoma Soccer Stadium or SNSS) is a football (soccer) stadium in Katutura, Windhoek, Namibia. The stadium holds 10,300 and was finished in 2005. It is named after the former Namibian president Sam Nujoma.ht ...

Katutura Katutura (Otjiherero for ''The place where people do not want to live'') is a township of Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia. Katutura was created in 1961 following the forced removal of Windhoek's black population from the Old Location, which a ...

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 ...

Deaths

* Kruger family: March 12 Jannie and Toets Kruger, farmers outside of Omaruru,

Erongo Region Erongo is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. The capital is Swakopmund. It is named after Mount Erongo, a well-known landmark in Namibia and in this area. Erongo contains the municipalities of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Omaruru, as ...

murdered in their home. * Eben van Zijl, 71, former

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

politician 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 ...

. *

Hendrik Witbooi (politician) Reverend Dr Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi (traditional name ǃNanseb ǀGabemab; 7 January 1934, in Gibeon – 13 October 2009, in Windhoek) was a Namibian politician and the seventh Captain of the ǀKhowesin clan. A member of SWAPO from 1976 until hi ...

, 75, SWAPO politician. *

Hans Erik Staby Hans-Erik Staby (8 September 1935 in Otjimbingwe-30 November 2009 in Windhoek) was a Namibian politician and one of the country's leading architects. A German Namibian, Staby was a member of the National Assembly of Namibia from the Constitu ...

, 74, former politician in South West Africa and cricket patron. * Victor Helu, 26, footballer. *

Theofelus Eiseb Theofelus Eiseb (12 March 1956 – 27 November 2009) was a Namibian politician and school teacher. Eiseb was an inaugural member of the National Council of Namibia until his appointment as governor of his native Otjozondjupa Region in 2003. He was ...

, SWAPO politicianEiseb passes
''

The Namibian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'', 53, 30 November 2009

References

{{Year in Africa, 2009

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 e ...

2000s in Namibia Years of the 21st century in Namibia