Michaela Hübschle (born 21 September 1950 as Michaela Kuntze 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 ...

) 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 former Deputy Minister for Prisons and Correctional Services.

Education and profession

After attending school in her hometown, Hübschle studied 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

from 1970 to 1973. She graduated with a BA. She then worked as a translator for the German embassy in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

until 1976. Hübschle then travelled to the Federal Republic of Germany and was active in the local environmental movement. In 1984, she returned to the

South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...

at that time and worked on various projects in

Katutura Katutura (Otjiherero for ''We do not settle'') is a township of Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia. Katutura was created in 1961 following the forced removal of Windhoek's black population from the Old Location, which afterwards was developed int ...

, a township 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 ...

. Since 2000, Hübschle has been the chairman of the Criminals Return Into Society (CRIS), founded by her, which has been called Change since August 2009. The association is committed to start-up and life support for former prisoners and in the area of vocational support. It also organizes the Gildehaus, an informal forum for leading personalities from government and politics.

Political career

Hübschle was a member of the

Constituent Assembly of Namibia Below is a list of members of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia, which became the National Assembly of Namibia upon independence in March 1990. Individual members were selected by political parties voted for in the 1989 election, the first ...

and from 1990 to 2000 for the SWAPO deputies 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 ...

. In 1995, Hübschle was appointed Deputy Minister for Prisons and Correctional Services. She held this office until 2000. During her term, she applied the

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

prevention program for free condoms for

prisoners of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

. This view, however, did not prevail in the government, as it was seen as supporting homosexuality. For the parliamentary elections in 2000, Hübschle was not recruited as a candidate after criticizing the abuse of prisoners in the context of the Caprivi conflict the previous year. In addition, she had called for the

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 ...

leadership to apologize for the abuse of prisoners during the liberation struggle. In 2007, Hübschle, in an article co-authored with the SWAPO politician Shapua Kaukungua, threw in the party leadership a defective party-internal democracy and interventions in regional and local elections. Subsequently, the break with the SWAPO came. In the parliamentary elections in 2009, Hübschle ran for the oppositional

Rally for Democracy and Progress (Namibia) The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) is a political party in Namibia. It was launched on 17 November 2007 under the leadership of Hidipo Hamutenya and Jesaya Nyamu, both former leading members of the ruling SWAPO party and cabinet ministe ...

(RDP), whose central committee she is a member of. However, she did not succeed in entering parliament.

Personal life

Hübschle's parents were the German-Namibian farmer Eberhard Kuntze and the author Lisa Kuntze. Hübschle was married to the former head of the Namibian veterinary authority, Dr. Otto Hübschle, who died in 2008 at the age of 62. They had two children.

References

* Who's who of Southern Africa. Ken Donaldson, Johannesburg 1992, OCLC 7083249, S.549 (online in Google Book Search) * Graham Hopwood: Guide to Namibian Politics. 2nd edition. Namibia Institute for Democracy, Windhoek 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hübschle, Michaela 1950 births Living people People from Otjiwarongo Politicians from Otjozondjupa Region Namibian people of German descent SWAPO politicians Rally for Democracy and Progress (Namibia) politicians Government ministers of Namibia Members of the 1st National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 2nd National Assembly of Namibia Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Augustineum Secondary School alumni Alumni of the University of Leeds