Katuutire Kaura (3 February 1941 – 22 January 2022) 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. He was president of the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(DTA) from 1998 to 2013 and was the official leader of the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...

from 2000 to 2005.Profile at Namibian Parliament website

Life and career

Kaura was born in Ombujondjupa in

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

, then administered by the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

(today the

Otjozondjupa Region Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters. Geog ...

of Namibia). He went into exile in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the 1970s and taught at Nyack High School in

Upper Nyack, New York Upper Nyack is a village incorporated in 1872 in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of the village of Nyack, east of Valley Cottage, south of Rockland Lake State Park, and west of the Hudson R ...

from 1972 to 1978; he also taught at

Rockland Community College Rockland Community College (RCC) is a public community college in the town of Ramapo, New York in Rockland County. It is part of the State University of New York. The college, established in 1959, became the 18th community college to join the S ...

from 1973 to 1975. During the same period, Kaura attended the universities of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

and Columbia. From 1989 to 1998, Kaura was vice president of the

(DTA). After DTA President

Mishake Muyongo Albert Mishake Muyongo (born 28 April 1944) is a Namibian politician and former Member of Parliament who is living in exile in Denmark. Muyongo was born into Mafwe Royal House in Linyanti, South West Africa. He received education at the Roman ...

expressed support for Caprivi secession in 1998, he was suspended from the DTA in August 1998, and Kaura became DTA president."Namibia: Party leader says ex-opposition leader Muyongo should return, be tried", NBC Radio, Windhoek, 31 October 1998. He called for Muyongo, who had fled into exile, to be brought back to Namibia and put on trial. Immediately prior to independence, Kaura was a member of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990. He has served as a member of 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 ...

from independence in 1990 until 2015. He ran for

President of Namibia The president of the Republic of Namibia is the head of state and the head of government of Namibia. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of Namibia, as chair of the Cabinet and is the commander-in-chief of the armed fo ...

in 1999 and 2004, receiving 9.6 percent"ELECTION UPDATE 2004, NAMIBIA"
, EISA report, number 3, 10 December 2004, page 9. and 5.12 percent of the vote, respectively. Following the 1999 election, he became leader of the official opposition (composed of the DTA and the United Democratic Front) in April 2000. In the 2013 DTA elective central committee meeting,

McHenry Venaani McHenry Venaani (born 8 September 1977) is a Namibian politician and the president of the Popular Democratic Movement, a party with sixteen seats in the National Assembly of Namibia and one seat in the National Council of Namibia. Venaani has be ...

defeated Kaura by a margin of 96 to 52 and assumed the party presidency. After publicly criticising Venaani's leadership, Kaura was brought before a DTA disciplinary committee and expelled from the party in February 2014. He was also to lose his seat in the National Assembly in the process to Venaani, but a court case brought by Kaura days after the decision was not contested by the DTA, and Kaura was reinstated both as parliamentarian and party member. He left the National Assembly at the end of his term in March 2015 and joined 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 in November 2017. Kaura died at

Roman Catholic Hospital The Roman Catholic Hospital is a private hospital in Windhoek, Namibia run by the Roman Catholic Church. Founded in 1907 by the Benedictine Missionary Sisters of Tutzing Tutzing is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germa ...

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 ...

, on 22 January 2022, at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaura, Katuutire 1941 births 2022 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Long Island University alumni Columbia University alumni People from Otjozondjupa Region Popular Democratic Movement politicians People from Upper Nyack, New York Candidates for President of Namibia