Angelika Kazetjindire Muharukua (12 January 1958

Opuwo Opuwo is the capital of the Kunene Region in north-western Namibia. The town is situated about 720 km north-northwest from the capital Windhoek, and has a population of 20,000. It is the commercial hub of the Kunene Region. Economy and inf ...

Kunene Region Kunene is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Opuwo, its governor is Marius Sheya. The region's name comes from the Kunene River which forms the northern border with Angola. Besides the capital Opuwo, the region contains the ...

– 1 October 2017) was a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n politician. An ethnic

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Namaqua Genocide * Herero chat, a species of b ...

from northwestern Namibia, Muharukua joined the

South West Africa People's Organization The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

(SWAPO) in 1979. She was a surprise choice by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

for the 2nd National Assembly of Namibia in 1995 and remained in the National Assembly since. In May 2004, she was chosen to replace

Marlene Mungunda Maria Marlene Mungunda (born 11 September 1954 in Mariental, Hardap Region) is a Namibian politician who served in several portfolios as minister. She is a teacher by profession international human rights law International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

s such as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP or DOTROIP) is a legally non-binding resolution passed by the United Nations in 2007. It delineates and defines the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including th ...

when she publicly announced that

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

such as the Himba and Zemba would not have the right to choose their own traditional leaders. On 27 March 2013, Angelika Muharukua publicly opposed protest by about a thousand indigenous Himba and Zemba who were manifesting their grievances that their children are not receiving culturally appropriate education, but are instead forced to cut their children's traditional hair styles, remove their cultural attires and therefore forced to remove their

cultural identity Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct cultur ...

. Angelika Muharukua was married to Kenatjironga Festus Muharukua who died in a car accident in March 2015. She lived in

Ovinjange Ovinjange is a village in the Epupa Constituency of Namibia north-eastern Kunene Region. It is situated north of Opuwo. Kunene governor Angelika Muharukua Angelika Kazetjindire Muharukua (12 January 1958 Opuwo, Kunene Region – 1 October 2017) ...

but the couple also had a residence in

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 in 20 ...

Hochland Park Hochland Park (also ''Hochlandpark'', seldom ''Highland Park'') is a residential suburb in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is named after the German ''Khomas Hochland'', the central-Namibian plateau area in which Windhoek is situated. Hochlan ...

suburb. On 1 October 2017, Angelika Muharukua died in a Windhoek hospital on a suspected heart failure (attack).

References

1958 births 2017 deaths People from Kunene Region Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) SWAPO politicians Government ministers of Namibia Herero people 20th-century Namibian women politicians 20th-century Namibian politicians 21st-century Namibian women politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians Women government ministers of Namibia {{Namibia-politician-stub