Bernhardt Martin Esau (born 9 December 1957) 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. A member of the

South West Africa People's Organization 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 ...

(SWAPO), Esau has been 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 repr ...

since being nominated by President

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma ( ; 12May 19298February 2025) was a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first president of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and t ...

and subsequently elected in the

1994 Namibian general election General elections were held in Namibia on 4 and 5 December 1994. Each registered voter could poll two votes, one for president (the first time a president was to be directly elected) and one for the National Assembly. Both elections were won by S ...

. Esau became a member of

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1995 and joined the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

in 1999 as deputy minister of Trade and Industry. In 2010 he was promoted to Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, a portfolio he held until November 2019 when he was forced to resign in the wake of the Fishrot bribery scandal.

Career

Esau was born in

Swakopmund Swakopmund ("Mouth of the Swakop River, Swakop") is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 road (Namibia), B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo Region, Erongo administrative district. It ...

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 ...

on 9 December 1957. He earned his matric at St. Josephs Training College in Döbra in 1977 and graduated from the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...

in 1984 with a degree in commerce. Esau rose through the

Mineworkers Union of Namibia The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) is one of the most powerful of Namibia's trade unions. It plays a leading public role in the Namibian political space and is an ally of the ruling South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) government. T ...

to become secretary general of the umbrella

National Union of Namibian Workers The National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) is one of three national trade union centers in Namibia. It was established in 1970 and is affiliated with SWAPO, Namibia's ruling political party. History The NUNW was originally established as a ge ...

(NUNW) in 1991. In 1992, during a time of debate concerning the role of Namibia's trade unions, Esau favored maintaining an alliance with SWAPO. However, Esau later in 1994 suggested that the trade unions could form their own political party if workers' rights continued to be ignored by the SWAPO government. In the same year he was placed on the National Assembly list for SWAPO and was voted into the National Assembly in the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

. Esau was a member of the

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

of SWAPO from 1991 to 1997, and in the 2010s, and of the central committee of the party since 1991. As deputy minister of Trade and Industry, Esau supported liberal economic policies, including the setting up of

export processing zones A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...

in Namibia where labour laws do not apply. From March 2010 Esau served as Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources. In president

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 ...

's cabinet, appointed in March 2015, Esau was retained in his post.

Bribery scandal

In November 2019 reports appeared that he took bribes in exchange for providing fishing quotas to the Icelandic fishing company Samherji. Esau resigned his ministerial portfolio in the wake of the allegations in November 2019. Albert Kawana became acting minister of fisheries in his stead. Esau was subsequently arrested on these charges, along with the former

justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Sacky Shangala. In December 2019 he was removed from the 6th National Assembly and from SWAPO's parliament list for the 7th National Assembly, for which

the election ''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...

had just concluded. Already in jail for over 5 months, he was removed from SWAPO's politburo in April 2021, after "absent nghimself or herself from three consecutive meetings". He also lost his place in the central committee of the party at that time. On 15 June 2021, the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

sanctioned Esau and Shangala for involvement in "significant corruption".

Private life

Esau is married to Swamma Mbulu since the 1980s. The couple has four children. They own a house in Windhoek's

Hochland Park Hochland Park (also ''Hochlandpark'', seldom ''Highland Park'') is a residential suburb in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is named after the German ''Khomas Hochland'', the central-Namibian plateau area in which Windhoek is situated. Hochlan ...

suburb, a plot in

Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo (Herero language, Herero for "beautiful place") is a city of 49,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo Constituency, Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital ...

, and the farm ''Dakota'' in

Omaheke Region Omaheke (the Otjiherero word for sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari Desert ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esau, Bernhardt 1957 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Namibian trade unionists People from Swakopmund University of Fort Hare alumni SWAPO politicians Fisheries ministers of Namibia Individuals sanctioned by the United States Department of State