Esther Utjiua Muinjangue (born 17 August 1962) 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 the president of the

National Unity Democratic Organisation The National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) is a political party in Namibia. It has been represented in the National Assembly of Namibia and in the National Council of Namibia since it split from the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (now PDM ...

(NUDO), a party that occupies two seats in 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 cl ...

and one seat in the

National Council of Namibia The National Council is the upper chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. It reviews bills passed by the lower chamber and makes recommendations for legislation of regional concern to the lower chamber. The 42 National Council members are i ...

. In addition, she is the first woman to lead a political party in Namibia, and the country's first female presidential candidate. She was appointed as the country's deputy minister of health and social services in March 2020 by Namibian 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 ...

. She has for a long time been advocating for social workers’ role in many aspects of people’s lives and at different levels. Esther Muinjangue promised to give the leadership to the upcoming new leadership in the party this year (2025).

Education

Muinjangue is a social worker by profession and obtained her BA qualification from the Academy of Tertiary Education (now the University of Namibia). She further obtained her Masters in Social Work at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

. In December 2019, Esther Muinjangue obtained her PhD from

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in South Africa. Esther was congratulated by her party people (NUDO) for obtaining her PhD.

Professional career

Muinjangue joined the public sector in 1987 as a social worker, and in 1996, she became a social work lecturer 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 ...

. While she was university lecturer, she also committed to the Herero and Nama communities

Political career

The National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) elected Muinjangue as its President –making her the first woman leader of a political party in Namibia.

2019 Presidential election

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 ...

, Muinjangue ran as a presidential candidate, but only won 1.5% of the popular vote. However, NUDO won two seats in Parliament, so, as the leader of her party, she will sit in the National Assembly.

References

Living people Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) National Unity Democratic Organisation politicians Candidates for President of Namibia 1962 births {{Namibia-politician-stub Government ministers of Namibia Women government ministers of Namibia 21st-century Namibian women politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians University of Pretoria alumni Stellenbosch University alumni