John Mutorwa (born 17 August 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 who served a deputy prime minister and Minister of Works and Transport. 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), Mutorwa has served 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 ...

as well as the cabinet since 1992.

Early life and education

Born at

Nyangana Nyangana is a village in the Ndiyona Constituency in Kavango East Region of north-eastern Namibia, situated east of Rundu. The Roman Catholic mission of Nyangana is located in the village. History The settlement is named after Nyangana, kin ...

Okavango Region Kavango (before 1998: Okavango) was one of the thirteen regions of Namibia until it was split into the Kavango East and Kavango West Regions in 2013. Its capital was Rundu. In the north, Kavango bordered the Cuando Cubango Province of Angola, and ...

, Mutorwa attended 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 ...

, from where he graduated in 1984. He earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1995 from 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 ...

. In 2002, he earned a master's degree in Interdisciplinary studies from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

.John Mutorwa
at Namibia Institute for Democracy Following his education at Fort Hare, Mutorwa returned to

Kavangoland Kavangoland was a Bantustan and then later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Kavangos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-govern ...

, where he worked as a teacher and principal from 1985 to 1990. He also worked for reconciliation efforts, serving as Secretary of the Repatriation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Roman Catholic Justice and Peace Commission from 1988 to 1989.

Political career

Following Namibian independence in 1990, Mutorwa joined

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

as regional commissioner for Kavango,

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

, and Tsumkwe. In 1992 he became a member of both

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 ...

and cabinet. He was appointed deputy minister of water affairs in the Office of the President in 1992 and deputy Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources in 1994. In 1995, he was promoted to head the Ministry of Basic Education, Culture and Sport, remaining there until 2005. When that ministry was split in 2005, he retained the Youth, National Services, Sport and Culture ministerial portfolio, and in 2010 he was moved to the post of Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry. Under the presidency of

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 ...

, Mutorwa was retained in his post as minister of agriculture, water and forestry in March 2015. In February 2018, Mutorwa was appointed Minister of Works and Transport. In February 2024, Motorwa was appointed by the new president Nangolo Mbumba as a new Deputy Prime Minister and a Minister of Works and Transport. Mutorwa was awarded the Most Brilliant Order of the Sun, first class, for his distinguished service above the call of duty in August 2024, by President Nangolo Mbumba.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutorwa, John 1957 births Living people People from Kavango East Kavango people SWAPO politicians Works and transport ministers of Namibia Agriculture ministers of Namibia Education ministers of Namibia Youth ministers of Namibia Sports ministers of Namibia Government ministers of Namibia Members of the 3rd National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 4th National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 5th National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 6th National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 7th National Assembly of Namibia University of Fort Hare alumni University of Namibia alumni University of Montana alumni Namibian expatriates in South Africa