Bernadus Clinton Swartbooi (born 11 October 1977) is a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n politician. Swartbooi was governor of

ǁKaras Region The ǁKharas Region (pronounced , with a lateral click, former name Karas Region, without the click) is the southernmost, largest, and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the r ...

before being appointed as Namibia's deputy Minister of Land Reform in 2015 by the late President Dr.

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 – 4 February 2024) was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister A prime minister ...

, a position he subsequently was forced to resign from in January 2017. On 27 July 2017, Swartbooi was removed from Parliament and resigned from

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

. In 2016 he formed the

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement is an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a history ...

Early life and education

Swartbooi attended secondary school at Suiderlig Senior Secondary School in

Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is named after , a German Empire, German industrialist and benefactor of the city. Keetmanshoop had a population of 27,862 people in 2023. History Before the colonial era, ...

. While at studying at the

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, and the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the following fac ...

, he served as the secretary-general of Namibia National Students Organisation and later became its president. Swartbooi worked as a prosecutor in

Tsumeb Tsumeb (; ) is a city of around 35,000 inhabitants and the largest town in the Oshikoto Region, Oshikoto region in northern Namibia. Tsumeb, since its founding in 1905, has been primarily a mining town. The town is the site of a deep mine (the ...

and

Khorixas Khorixas is a town with about 9,000 inhabitants in the southern part of the 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 ...

and served as a special assistant at the office of the Prime Minister. Swartbooi holds a Basic Education Teaching Diploma from Windhoek College of Education (now University of Namibia

Khomasdal Khomasdal is a suburb of Namibia's capital of Windhoek in the Khomas Region. Founded as Windhoek's residential area for Coloured people, Khomasdal still is primarily composed of Coloured people. In October 2006, the City of Windhoek announc ...

Campus) and B juris as well as Bachelor of Laws from University of Namibia in 2001. Swartbooi obtained a PG Diploma in Land and Agrarian Reform from the University of Western Cape.

Landless People's Movement

In 2017, after being fired by the late president

from his ministerial position, Swartbooi formed the

(LPM), which is a new political party that aims to bring about change in the country through equitable land redistribution. LPM advocates for distribution of ancestral land to Namibians whose land was dispossessed by German settlers in the 1900s. He is the president of the party as well as its chief change campaigner. In the

2019 Namibian general election Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

, Swartbooi ran as presidential candidate of the LPM. They gathered 2.7% and four seats in Parliament. In 2025, Swartbooi ran for speaker 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 repr ...

, but lost after receiving 40 votes against

candidate and prime minister

Saara Kuugongelwa Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila (born 12 October 1967) is a Namibian politician serving as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia from 21 March 2025. She served as the Prime Minister of Namibia from 2015 to 2025. She is a member of the S ...

, who won 55 votes.

Personal life

Swartbooi's legislative interests includes Economic Policies and Agrarian Reform Politics. He is a teacher, lawyer, politician and farmer.

Awards and recognition

In 2024, while the respective local authorities were under LPM government, streets were renamed after Swartbooi in

, Mariental and

Oranjemund Oranjemund (Dutch for ''"Mouth of Orange"'') is a diamond mining town in the ǁKaras Region of the extreme southwest of Namibia, on the northern bank of the Orange River mouth at the border with South Africa. It had a population of 7,736 peopl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swartbooi, Bernadus 1977 births Living people People from ǁKaras Region Nama people SWAPO politicians Landless People's Movement (Namibia) politicians Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Candidates for President of Namibia University of Namibia alumni