Bernhardt Martin Esau, also ''Bernhard'' or ''Bernard'' (born 9 December 1957), is 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. A member of 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), Esau has been a member of 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 ...

since being nominated by President

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 ...

and subsequently elected in the 1994 Namibian general election. Esau became a member of

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in 1995 and joined

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

in 1999 as deputy minister of Trade and Industry. In 2010 he was promoted to Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, a portfolio he held until November 2019 when he was forced to resign in the wake of the Fishrot scandal.

Career

Esau was born in

Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...

Erongo Region Erongo is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. The capital is Swakopmund. It is named after Mount Erongo, a well-known landmark in Namibia and in this area. Erongo contains the municipalities of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Omaruru, as w ...

on 9 December 1957. He earned his matric at St. Josephs Training College in Döbra in 1977 and graduated from the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across ...

in 1984 with a degree in Commerce. Esau rose through the Mineworkers Union of Namibia to become secretary general of the umbrella

National Union of Namibian Workers The National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) is one of three national trade union centers in Namibia. It was established in 1970 and is affiliated with SWAPO, Namibia's ruling political party. History NUNW was originally established as a genera ...

(NUNW) in 1991. In 1992, during a time of debate concerning the role of Namibia's trade unions, Esau favored maintaining an alliance with SWAPO. However, Esau later in 1994 suggested that the trade unions could form their own political party if workers' rights continued to be ignored by the SWAPO government. In the same year he was placed on the National Assembly list for SWAPO and was voted into the National Assembly in the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Esau was a member of the

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

of SWAPO from 1991 to 1997, and of the

central committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the c ...

of the party since 1991. As deputy minister of Trade and Industry, Esau supported liberal economic policies, including the setting up of

export processing zones A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re- exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to cu ...

in Namibia where labour laws do not apply. From March 2010 Esau served as Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources. In president

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 2012 ...

's cabinet, appointed in March 2015, Esau was retained in his post.

Bribery scandal

In November 2019 he was forced to resign over allegations that he took bribes in exchange for providing fishing quotas to the Icelandic fishing company Samherji. He was subsequently arrested on these charges, along with the former

justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Sacky Shanghala Sakeus Edward Twelityaamena "Sacky" Shanghala (born 13 June 1977) is a Namibian lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Justice from 8 February 2018 until November 2019 when he was forced to resign in the wake of the Fishrot scandal. ...

Private life

Esau is married to Swamma Mbulu since the 1980s. The couple has four children. They own a house in Windhoek's Hochland Park suburb, a plot in

Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo ( hz, beautiful place) is a city of 28,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital of Otjozondjupa. Otjiwarongo is situated in ce ...

, and the farm ''Dakota'' in

Omaheke Region Omaheke ( hz, Sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari desert. The self-governed vi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esau, Bernhardt 1957 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Namibian trade unionists People from Swakopmund University of Fort Hare alumni SWAPO politicians Fisheries ministers of Namibia