Nahas Gideon Angula (born 22 August 1943)Profile on Namibian parliament website
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 as the third

Prime Minister of Namibia The prime minister of the Republic of Namibia is the leader of the Government of Namibia. The prime minister is appointed by the president and coordinates the work of the Cabinet. They also advise and assist the president in the execution o ...

from 21 March 2005 to 4 December 2012. He was succeeded by

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 ...

in a cabinet reshuffle after the 2012 SWAPO Party congress. He subsequently served as

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 2012 to 2015. Angula is a member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). He was Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport from 1990 to 1995 and Minister of Higher Education from 1995 to 2005.

Political career

Angula was born in Onyaanya,

Oshikoto Region Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. Further major settlements in the region are Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and Oniipa. , Oshikoto had 112,170 registered voters. Ge ...

. He was in exile from

from 1965 to 1989. During this time he worked for Radio

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 ...

from 1973 to 1976 and for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

as a civil servant from 1976 to 1980 before becoming a

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 ...

organizer in 1980. He was in charge of SWAPO voter registration in 1989. Immediately before independence, Angula was a SWAPO 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 ...

, which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990. Angula became 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 ...

in 1990. He was Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport from 1990 to 1995 and Minister of Higher Education from 1995 to 2005. Angula received the highest number of votes, 395 (tied with

Jerry Ekandjo Jerry Lukiiko Ekandjo (born 17 March 1947) is a Namibian politician, former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. He is one of the founding members of the SWAPO Youth League and has been one of the most active internal leading member ...

), in the election to the Central Committee of SWAPO at the party's August 2002 congress. He was one of three candidates who sought SWAPO's nomination as its presidential candidate in May 2004. He placed third in the first round, receiving 137 votes, while

Hifikepunye Pohamba Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1935) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 Namibian presidential election, 2004 presidential election overwhelming ...

received 213 and

Hidipo Hamutenya Hidipo Livius Hamutenya (17 June 1939 – 6 October 2016) was a Namibian politician. He died aged 77 after a short illness. A long-time leading member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hamutenya was a member of the Cabinet ...

received 166, and he was therefore excluded from the second round. Those who supported Angula backed Pohamba almost without exception in the second round of voting, and Pohamba was victorious. On March 21, 2005, when Pohamba was sworn in as

president of Namibia The president of Namibia is the head of state and head of government of Namibia. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of Namibia, government, acts as chair of the Cabinet of Namibia, Cabinet and is the commander-in-chie ...

, he announced that he was appointing Angula as

."Namibia's new president takes office"
AFP, March 22, 2005. After

was re-elected as SWAPO vice-president on 2 December 2012, and thus confirmed as SWAPO's 2014 presidential candidate, Pohamba appointed Geingob to replace Angula as prime minister on 4 December 2012. Angula was instead appointed

. Amidst a push for new faces in the National Assembly, Angula opted not to seek a spot on the SWAPO list for the 2014 election.

Education and personal life

Angula received a master's degree in education from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1978. He never completed his Ph.D. at the

Teachers College Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...

as SWAPO instructed him to return to Namibia to become the Minister of Education. He is a member of the

Lutheran church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

, as has been his family for generations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angula, Nahas 1943 births Living people Politicians from Oshikoto Region Ovambo people Namibian Lutherans SWAPO politicians Prime ministers of Namibia Defence ministers of Namibia Education ministers of Namibia Youth ministers of Namibia Sports ministers of Namibia Culture ministers of Namibia Members of the 1st National Assembly of Namibia Members of the 2nd National Assembly 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 Oshigambo High School alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Namibian expatriates in Zambia People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel