Helmut Pau Kangulohi Angula (born 11 November 1945) 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 businessman, politician, former

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 * Filing ...

minister and writer. He is currently the director of various private companies, after leaving government in 2010, and a longtime member of the

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

and 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 the ruling

SWAPO 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 ...

party.

Biography

Angula was born in

Ontananga Ontananga is a village in the Oshikoto Region in northern 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 ...

Oshikoto Region Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...

, and joined SWAPO in 1963, just three years after the movement's founding. Angula holds a M.Sc Degree from

Voronezh State University Voronezh State University is one of the main universities in Central Russia, located in the city of Voronezh. The university was established in 1918 by professors evacuated from the University of Tartu in Estonia. The university has 18 faculties ...

in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. During his time with SWAPO, Angula served as the deputy principal of the Health and Education Center in Nyango, Zambia from 1975–1976 and then rose to director of the center until 1977. From 1977- 1986 he was SWAPO chief representative to Cuba, the Caribbean and Latin America, and from 1986 to 1989 served as the SWAPO permanent observer at 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 ...

in New York, and as the chief representative to North America. He was elected 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 close ...

in 1990 and was deputy minister of Mines and Energy from 1990 to 1991, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources from 1991 to 1995,

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1995 to 1996, and Minister of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development from 1996-2004. In 2005 Angula was appointed director-general of the National Planning Commission, where he was responsible for negotiating the Namibia- US Millennium Challenge Account Agreement worth $380 million US and supported programs implemented by US/Namibian Governments in the education, environment and agricultural sectors. He was also responsible for negotiating with the World Bank and Education and Training Sector Improvement Programs "ETSIP" Agreement. A vacancy that occurred on the SWAPO list in November 2007 opened up a SWAPO seat in the National Assembly, and Angula was subsequently sworn in as a Member of Parliament again at the beginning of a parliamentary session on 22 November 2007. In April 2008, he was appointed as

Minister of Works and Transport Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, he held this position until March 2010. Since leaving government, Angula has embarked on various business activities. Angula is currently a member of the

and the

of SWAPO, and its secretary for the department of transportation. Angula was not re-elected to the National Assembly in the November 2009 parliamentary election, and instead pursued a career in business. On

Heroes' Day Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the birthday of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that m ...

2014 he was conferred the Most Brilliant Order of the Sun, Second Class.

Writing

In 1988, he published "The Two Thousand days of Haimbodi Ya Haufiku", an "autobiographical novel from Namibia". The novel was first published in German translation by Karl H. Heidtmann, based on the original English-language manuscript and reworked in collaboration with the author, an edition in the original English followed in 1990.

Bibliography

* . * .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angula, Helmut 1945 births Living people People from Oshikoto Region Ovambo people SWAPO politicians Works and transport ministers of Namibia Directors-general of the National Planning Commission of Namibia Agriculture ministers of Namibia Finance ministers of Namibia Fisheries ministers of Namibia Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Voronezh State University alumni