Hosea Nico Kaiyamo (born 12 November 1961) is a Namibian politician, an author and businessman who was the first regional councillor for the
Tsumeb Constituency and a member of parliament in the National Council. He was an activist for
South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) in its long struggle against South African rule until Namibia obtained independence on 21 March 1990. He was elected Regional Councillor for the Tsumeb Constituency in 1993 and remained in office until 2003. He was a member of parliament in the National Council from 1993 to 2003.
Early life
Kaiyamo was born in
Ondobe Constituency in the
Ohangwena Region of northern Namibia. He is the son of the late Mika Kaiyamo, a prominent evangelist and the brother of
Elia Kaiyamo, the former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration and the current Ambassador designate to the Peoples Republic of China. He grew up in a Christian family. Kaiyamo attended school in Outjo and in Windhoek. In 1977, he enrolled at
Augustineum Training College
The Augustineum Secondary School, established in 1866, is among the oldest schools in Namibia. Originally situated in Otjimbingwe, it was relocated to Okahandja in 1890, and finally to Windhoek in 1968. Previously also known as the Augustineum ...
. In 1980, he enrolled at the ''Academy for Tertiary Education'', currently known as the
Polytechnic of Namibia
The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), formerly known as Polytechnic of Namibia, is a public university located in the city of Windhoek, Namibia. Andrew Niikondo is its acting vice-chancellor. NUST was headed by the founding ...
, for his tertiary education.
Political career
In 1977, Kaiyamo joined SWAPO as a student and soon became a well-known activist for the struggle of independence. When he was 25 years old, he took controversial pictures of dead SWAPO insurgents on
Casspirs and sent them to ''
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 m ...
'' newspaper for publication.
After independence, Kaiyamo was elected as the first regional councillor for the Tsumeb Constituency, a position he held from 1992 to 2003. During the time he served as the Councillor, the constituency of Tsumeb went through major industrial and agricultural changes. Tsumeb was the capital of the
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, ...
at that time, and mining the
Tsumeb mine
, nickname =
, settlement_type = City
, motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German for ''Good luck'')
, image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
, image_flag ...
, currently known as ''Namibia Custom Smelters'', was at its peak. Kaiyamo was also a member of the National Council from 1993 to 2003. In 2003, Kaiyamo resigned from his positions.
In 2010, it was alleged that Kaiyamo was associated with the Tsumeb Rate Payers Association, an organisation formed to challenge SWAPO in the local authorities elections. This led to the suspension of Kaiyamo from Swapo
On 21 May 2012, Kaiyamo's suspension was lifted at a Swapo Politburo Meeting.
Kaiyamo is still an active Swapo member and a community activist.
Personal life
Nico Kaiyamo married Alina Kaiyamo on 12 December 1987. They have two children: Trevor Nalimanguluke Kaiyamo (born 1989) and Galvin Panduleni Kaiyamo (born 1997). The family resides their family house in
Tsumeb.
Authorship
Kaiyamo authored an Autobiography titled "My Journey" that was launched on the 23rd of November 2023 in Windhoek.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiyamo, Nico
SWAPO politicians
Tsumeb
Oshikoto Region
1961 births
Ovambo people
Namibia University of Science and Technology alumni
Augustineum Secondary School alumni
Living people