Monica Nashandi (née Shivolo born 12 October 1959) 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 diplomat and politician. Nashandi was Namibia's ambassador to

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n countries as well as the former High Commissioner to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Nashandi was removed from the

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 ...

list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

for the 2009 general election because she had not registered to vote, a requirement under Namibian law. Nashandi was Namibia's ambassador to the

United States of America 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 territo ...

from 2019 to 2020.

Early life and education

Nashandi was born on 12 October 1959 in the village of Ompundja in

Oshana Region Oshana is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Oshakati. The towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, all situated with this region, form an urban cluster with the second largest population concentration in Namibia after the ...

. As a refugee in 1978, she 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 ...

, a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n airborne attack on SWAPO across the border in

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

. She later received military training and joined the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the Sout ...

(PLAN), SWAPO's armed wing during the

Namibian War of Independence The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

. Nashandi graduated with a diploma in youth and development from

University of Zambia The University of Zambia (UNZA) is a public university located in Lusaka, Zambia. It is Zambia's largest and oldest learning institution. The university was established in 1965 and officially opened to the public on 12 July 1966. The language of ...

in 1983 and earned a master's degree in diplomatic studies from the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

in 2002 while on a diplomatic posting.

Career

Following Namibia's independence in 1990, Nashandi served as Deputy Chief of Protocol in the

State House of Namibia The State House of the Republic of Namibia is the official residence and workplace of the President of Namibia. Located in the Auasblick suburb of Windhoek, the State House was constructed by Mansudae Overseas Projects of North Korea from Sept ...

prior to her appointment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Under-Secretary for Political and Economic Affairs. From 1995 to 1999, she was Namibia's ambassador to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. From 1999 to 2005, she became her country's high commissioner to the

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Nashandi has been the acting non-executive chairman of the board at Trustco Group Holdings Limited since 2006. Trustco Group Holdings is a publicly traded company which provides micro-insurance and financial services. In November 2007, Nashandi was named to the board of directors of Africon, a Namibian engineering firm. At the time of her appointment, she was the only female on the board.

Removal from party list

At the September 2009 SWAPO party conference, Nashandi was placed 30th on the SWAPO party list for the coming elections for 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 repre ...

as one of President

Hifikepunye Pohamba Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba (born 18 August 1936) is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and was ...

's ten personal nominations to that list. Because of the Public Service Act which states that public employees must either use vacation time or resign in order to get time off to run for public office, she was forced to resign from her position as Deputy Executive Director in the State House in order to run for the National Assembly. Nashandi had no vacation time to use and thus had to resign, but she was nearly guaranteed a place in the National Assembly due to her comfortable position on the SWAPO list. A month prior to the elections, Nashandi was removed from the SWAPO list when the

Electoral Commission of Namibia The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) is an agency of the Government of Namibia. It was founded in 1992 under the Electoral Act 24 of 1992. The aim of the commission is to oversee all Namibian electoral activities starting from voter registra ...

discovered that Nashandi was not in possession of a valid voter's card and thus not a registered voter, a necessary condition to qualify for election to the National Assembly. Priscilla Beukes, at that time mayor of Mariental, took her place. Days after the removal, the former ambassador called her removal a "technical oversight"; she had not registered to vote in the 2004 general election because she was serving as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at the time, and foreign missions did not conduct voter's registrations. It was widely expected that Nashandi would register to vote in the 2009 election and be appointed as one of the presidential additional six nominees for the National Assembly, but this did not occur.

Private life

Nashandi is married to a lieutenant colonel in the

Namibian Defence Force The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) comprises the national military forces of Namibia. It was created when the country, then known as South West Africa, gained independence from South Africa in 1990. Chapter 15 of the Constitution of Namibia establ ...

, who is based in

Otavi Otavi is a town of 4,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central Namibia. Situated 360 km north of Windhoek, it is the district capital of the Otavi electoral constituency. Geography The towns of Otavi, Tsumeb (to the north) and Gro ...

. Her daughter, Anna Svetlana Nashandi, who was born in 1984 while Nashandi was in exile in Angola, won the 2006 Miss Namibia beauty pageant competition at the

Windhoek Country Club Resort The Windhoek Country Club Resort is a multi-use resort outside of Windhoek, Namibia owned by Legacy Hotels and Resorts International. The Resort was opened in May 1995 and was home to the 1995 Miss Universe Pageant. The resort's golf course is ho ...

.Miss Namibia 2006 crowned
The Southern Times

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nashandi, Monica 1959 births Living people African women in war SWAPO politicians People from Oshana Region Alumni of the University of Westminster Namibian women in politics Namibian women in business Namibian businesspeople Namibian women diplomats People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel High Commissioners of Namibia to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Namibia to Ireland Ambassadors of Namibia to Iceland Ambassadors of Namibia to Norway Ambassadors of Namibia to Sweden Ambassadors of Namibia to Denmark Ambassadors of Namibia to Finland University of Zambia alumni Women in warfare post-1945 20th-century Namibian women politicians 21st-century Namibian women politicians 20th-century Namibian politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians Namibian women ambassadors