Sophia Shaningwa

Sophia Shaningwa (born 13 May 1959 in Outapi)[1] 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 (PLAN) combatant. She studied at Ivanova Teachers Training College in the Soviet Union.[2]

Political career

Shaningwa was appointed governor of Khomas Region in 2004.[2] She later served as Governor of Omusati Region.[3] In 2014, she was elected to the National Assembly.[4] She had previously worked at the National Housing Enterprise and served as Windhoek West councillor.[4]

Shaningwa served as Minister for Urban and Rural Development from 21 March 2015 to February 2018 in president Hage Geingob's administration.[5] 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.[6] In 2017 Shaningwa was elected secretary general of SWAPO.[1] Shaningwa retained this position in 2022, defeating Oshikoto SWAPO Regional Coordinator Armas Amukwiyu.[7]

Awards

Shaningwa was conferred the Most Distinguished Order of Namibia: First Class on Heroes' Day 2014.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Namibia: Candidates for Swapo's Top-Four Positions At 2017 Party Congress". Allafrica.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Shaningwa is new Khomas Governor". The Namibian. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  3. ^ "New governors expected by March". New Era. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Parliament of hope?". The Namibian. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Geingob announces Cabinet". The Namibian. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  6. ^ Namibian, The. "Sanitation a human right issue – Shaningwa". The Namibian. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  7. ^ "Namibia: Women Power! ... Netumbo, Shaningwa Win Swapo's Game of Thrones". Afro News. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  8. ^ "Namibians honoured by President". New Era. 28 August 2014. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2017.


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