Ella Ndatega Kamanya (9 November 1961 – 31 July 2005) 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 and businesswoman.Ex-MP Kamanya dies
in ''

The Namibian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', 1 August 2005 She 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 exile in 1978 and survived the

Battle of Cassinga The Battle of Cassinga also known as the Cassinga Raid or Kassinga Massacre was a controversial South African airborne attack on a South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) military camp at the town of Cassinga, Angola on 4 May 1978. Cond ...

during the conflict with the South African Army. Kamaya was appointed to the

National Assembly of Namibia The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of clos ...

in 2003, replacing

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 201 ...

. In March 2004, she was appointed to the Pan-African Parliament.

Early life

Kamanya was born on 9 November 1961 in Onangalo, Uukwaluudhi Kingdom,

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts ...

. Her father was a prominent local politician and businessperson. She grew up in a devout Christian family.

Career

In 1978, she joined SWAPO in exile, and shortly after arriving in

Cassinga Cassinga or Kassinga is a town and commune in the municipality of Jamba, province of Huíla, Angola. It is situated on an old and important two-track road from Jamba to Huambo. Established as an ore mine and during the Civil War allegedly u ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, the encampment where she and other Namibian exiles and refugees were based was raided by the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

. She was captured during the May 1978

, returned to South-West Africa, and subsequently incarcerated in

Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest places. Oshakati was founded in July 1966 and proclaimed a town in 1992. The town was used as a base of operations by the S ...

. A businesswoman by profession, Kamanya ran movie theaters in

Ongwediva Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private sch ...

and Ondangwa before joining the National Assembly. She requested to be buried in northern Namibia.

Controversy

In March 2004, Kamanya faced criticism for alleged graft in deals related to

Black Economic Empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities creat ...

transactions and the San community of Namibia. She denied the allegations and died in July 2005.Kamanya accuses shareholders of tryig to wrest company from her

, 5 March 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamanya, Ella Ndatega 1961 births 2005 deaths People from Omusati Region Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Namibia Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Namibian women in business Namibian businesspeople SWAPO politicians Namibian expatriates in Angola Prisoners and detainees of South Africa Namibian people imprisoned abroad Namibian exiles Women members of the Pan-African Parliament