Philemon Malima (born 9 July 1946) is a Namibian politician and diplomat who was the chief of intelligence service of

Namibia Central Intelligence Service The Namibia Central Intelligence Service (NCIS) is an agency of the Namibian government. It is responsible for all intelligence services of Namibia and was established in June 1998 through Proclamation 12/1998 which enforced the Namibia Central I ...

from 2015 to 2020. Malima has been a member of the

Cabinet of Namibia The Cabinet of Namibia is an appointed body that was established by Chapter 6 (Articles 35-42) of the Constitution of Namibia. It is mandated to include: the President of Namibia, the Prime Minister of Namibia and any positions that the Presiden ...

since March 1990 and has served as minister responsible for various ministries since independence.

Early life and education

Malima was born in Omandongo in

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 attended Oshigambo High School east of

Ondangwa Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. It had a population of 30,364 people in 2023. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missi ...

and graduated in 1971. From 1972 to 1974 he received training as pastor in

Otjimbingwe Otjimbingwe (also: Otjimbingue) is a settlement in the Erongo Region of central Namibia. Otjimbingwe has approximately 8,000 inhabitants and belongs to the Karibib electoral constituency. Otjimbingwe was an important settlement in South West Afr ...

. Malima obtained political and military training in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in the early 1980s, at the Institute of Political Science, and at

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

. He worked as a political educator, military officer and diplomat of

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 ...

, as well as its representative to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

between 1987 and 1989.

Career

Upon

Independence of Namibia The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

in 1990 he became a member of 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 deputy

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 ...

. In 1995 he was promoted to minister, and in 1997 he was moved to the

Ministry of Environment and Tourism The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) is a government ministry of Namibia, with headquarters in Windhoek. It was created at Namibian independence in 1990 as Ministry of Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism. The first Namibian en ...

. He served until his retirement in 2005. Malima was appointed director-general of

in May 2015.

References

1946 births Living people People from Oshikoto Region Ovambo people SWAPO politicians Defence ministers of Namibia Environment and tourism 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 Directors general of the Namibia Central Intelligence Service People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel National heroes of Namibia {{Namibia-politician-stub