Angelika Kazetjindire Muharukua (12 January 1958 Opuwo, Kunene Region – 1 October 2017) was a Namibian 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 (SWAPO) in 1979. She was a surprise choice by President Sam Nujoma for the

2nd National Assembly of Namibia Below is a list of the 2nd National Assembly of the Republic of Namibia. Individual members were selected by political parties voted for in the 1994 election. The members were in the National Assembly from 21 March 1995 until 21 March 2000. M ...

in 1995 and remained in the National Assembly since. In May 2004, she was chosen to replace Marlene Mungunda as deputy minister of Women Affairs and Child Welfare, later renamed the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare. In September 2012 Angelika Muharukua contradicted international human rights laws such as the United Nations

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 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 Hochland Park 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