Elizabeth Magano Amukugo (born 1 August 1954, 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, which ...

Khomas Region Khomas is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its name refers to the Khomas Highland, a high plateau landscape that dominates this administrative subdivision. Khomas is centered on the capital city Windhoek and provides for this reason superio ...

) 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 and academic with 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 ...

Early life

Amukugo attended Primary education at Onayena Primary School in 1963 to 1970 and received Secondary education at the then Ongwediva Secondary School from which she was expelled for political reasons. She became a member of

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 1974 and went into exile in Angola the same year, she continued into

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and then left to finish her education with Agha Khan Academy in Nairobi,

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. Afterwards, she left for Sweden through Tanzania after her marriage to fellow Politician Ambassador

Kaire Mbuende Kaire Munionganda Mbuende (born 28 November 1953) is a Namibian politician and diplomat. Mbuende served as Namibian ambassador to the United Nations from August 2006 to December 2010. An ethnic Herero, Mbuende has been a high-level member of the r ...

Academic and political career

Amukugo studied with

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

earning Masters of Science in Sociology & Education, Masters in Social Science from

, as well as Philosophy Degree in Education. While in Sweden she worked actively with several organisations such as the Africa Groups, ISAK, ABF and several political parties. Amukugo was a member of the

Parliament of Namibia The Parliament of Namibia is the national legislature of Namibia. It is a bicameral legislature consists of two houses: the National Council of Namibia, National Council (upper house) and the National Assembly of Namibia, National Assembly (lowe ...

from 2000 to 2005 and served on the Standing Committee on Governmental Affairs, Standing Committee on the Reports of the Ombudsman also on the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Equality & Gender as well as Senior Representative of the

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...

Namibia Branch, Member of the National Executive Committee and of the National Council for the

Congress of Democrats The Congress of Democrats (CoD) is a Namibian opposition party without representation in the National Assembly and was led by Ben Ulenga from 2004 to 2015. It was established in 1999, prior to that year's general elections, and started off w ...

(CoD) Amukugo was a Research Fellow with

in Sweden from 1987 to 1990, a Lecturer with the former Academy for Tertiary Education now the

Namibia University of Science and Technology 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 ...

around 1990 and 1991. She then served as Chief for Multilateral Co-operation with the Namibian National Planning Commission from 1991 to 1996. An academic by profession, Amukugo was Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Education from 1996 to 2000 with the University of Namibia, and Senate & Head of the Department of Educational Foundations & Management with University of Namibia from 1997 to 2000. She is currently an Associate Professor with the

Educational Foundations and Management, she authored ''Democracy and Education in Namibia and beyond'' in 2017 and ''Education and Politics in Namibia. Past Trends and Future Prospects''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amukugo, Elizabeth 1954 births Living people SWAPO politicians Congress of Democrats politicians Politicians from Oshikoto Region Politicians from Oshana Region Namibian activists Namibian women activists Namibian political scientists Politicians from Windhoek Lund University alumni Academic staff of the University of Namibia Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel South West African anti-apartheid activists Women political scientists Women civil rights activists Namibian women scientists