Sophia Shaningwa (born 13 May 1959 in Outapi) is a Namibian politician, currently serving as secretary general of the SWAPO party.

Education

Shaningwa left Namibia for exile in May 1980 and underwent military training as a

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) during the S ...

(PLAN) combatant. She studied at Ivanova Teachers Training College in the Soviet Union.

Political career

Shaningwa was appointed governor of

Khomas Region Khomas is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its name refers to the Khomas Highland, a high plateau landscape that dominates this administrative subdivision. Khomas is centered on the capital city Windhoek and provides for this reason superio ...

in 2004. She later served as Governor of Omusati Region. In 2014, she 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 ...

. She had previously worked at the National Housing Enterprise and served as Windhoek West councillor. Shaningwa served as Minister for Urban and Rural Development from 21 March 2015 to February 2018 in president

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 ...

's administration. During that time her ministry was awarded a cheque by Samlam to eliminate the bucket toilet system, because sanitation and hygiene is believed to be a major challenge in the rural areas. In 2017 Shaningwa was elected secretary general of SWAPO. Shaningwa retained this position in 2022, defeating Oshikoto SWAPO Regional Coordinator Armas Amukwiyu.

Awards

Shaningwa was conferred the Most Distinguished Order of Namibia: First Class on Heroes' Day 2014.

References

Politicians from Omusati Region Living people SWAPO politicians People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel Governors of Khomas Region Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Urban and rural development ministers of Namibia Women government ministers of Namibia Women regional governors of Namibia Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) 1959 births 21st-century Namibian women politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians {{Namibia-politician-stub