Nikolaus Onverwag 'Niko' Bessinger (12 June 1948 – 25 March 2008) was 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 independence activist. Bessinger was born on 12 June 1948 in Walvis Bay,

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. ...

. Born into the Goreseb clan which is closely related to the Goreseb Royal House. He attended St. Bonifacius Roman Catholic Primary School in Windhoek, Augustineum Secondary School in Okahandja and matriculated at Athlone High School in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in 1966. He then studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

from 1969 to 1972 before receiving a Fulbright scholarship to study at the University of Detroit in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He received the National Dean's List Award in 1979 and 1980. Bessinger graduated with a B.Sc. (Architecture) in 1980 and a B.Arch. in 1981 before being registered as an Architect in Namibia in 1983 (Member of the Namibia Institute of Architects and the Namibia Council of Architects and Quantity Surveyors). In Namibia he joined ''Kerry McNamara and Associates'' as partner, a move that cost his senior partner Kerry McNamara, a White Namibian, several contracts from the state and from private individuals.Christof Maletzky (26 March 2008)
Niko Bessinger passes away
The Namibian Bessinger joined SWAPO in 1972 and became treasurer of the

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 ...

office in 1976. He became national treasurer a year later. He was the joint secretary for foreign affairs on the SWAPO national executive within Namibia from 1981 until 1989. He also served as the designated principal liaison officer with

UNTAG The United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) was a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force deployed from April 1989 to March 1990 in Namibia, known at the time as South West Africa, to monitor the peace process and elections there. N ...

until the return of the external leadership in 1989. During this time, he was arrested several times by South African authorities. On 11.09.1987 Judge J Bethune ordered the release of a number of SWAPO activists (Hendrik Witbooi, Danny Tjongarero, Niko Bessinger, Anton Lubowski, John Pandeni and Ben Ulenga) who were detained by the South African Authorities in terms of the Terrorism Act, 1967. Upon independence in 1990, he was elected to 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 ...

and on 21.03.1990 was appointed by president Sam Nujoma as the first Minister of Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism, a position he held until 20 March 1995. He was elected to the

again in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

before resigning in 1996, when he was replaced by Marlene Mungunda. He remained on the SWAPO Party central committee until 2007. Bessinger died of a heart attack on 25 March 2008 at his home in the Khomasdal suburb of Windhoek. At the time of his death, he was a diabetic and had cancer. President

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 ...

on 30 March 2008 conferred the honour of national hero to him. He was buried next to his mother's grave, Calista Bessinger, at the Khomasdal cemetery in Windhoek. Niko Bessinger was married to Hermine Bessinger, née Bertolini, and is survived by his children, Dietrich Bessinger, Anthony Bessinger, Hatani Bertolini, Kakuna Calista Karuaihe, Xavier Bessinger and 5 grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bessinger, Niko 1948 births 2008 deaths People from Walvis Bay Politicians from Windhoek Namibian architects Environment and tourism ministers of Namibia Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Namibian expatriates in South Africa Namibian expatriates in the United States SWAPO politicians University of Cape Town alumni University of Detroit Mercy alumni Augustineum Secondary School alumni National heroes of Namibia