Penehupifo "Penny" Pohamba (born 16 June 1948) 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 nurse and politician who was the second

First Lady of Namibia First Lady of Namibia is the title of the wife of the president of Namibia. There have been three First Ladies, first ladies (and presidents) since Namibia's independence in 1990. Namibia's current first lady is Monica Geingos, who has held the ...

while her husband,

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 wa ...

, was

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 ...

from 2005 to 2015.

Early life

Pohamba was born in Okatale in

Ohangwena Region Ohangwena is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Eenhana. Major settlements in the region are the towns Eenhana and Helao Nafidi aa well as the self-governed village of Okongo. , Ohangwena had 150,724 registered voters. Ohang ...

, in the constituency of

Oshikango Oshikango is a former village in northern Namibia and since 2004 part of the town of Helao Nafidi, although it still maintained its own village council for a number of years. ''Oshikango'' is still the name of the border post with Angola and the ...

close to the borders of

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

. Pohamba attended her primary and secondary school at Odibo with Jeremiah Nambinga and

Joel Kaapanda Joel Natangwe Kaapanda (born 12 June 1945) is a Namibian politician. A member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Kaapanda was a member of the National Assembly of Namibia from November 2002 to March 2020. He served in cabine ...

. She was a school teacher at St George's Diocesan School in

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 202 ...

Political career

Pohamba is a member of SWAPO. She married Malakias Shiluwa at St Mary's Odibo in 1969, and they have one son, Waldheim Shiluwa (born 1971). In 1976, she left Namibia via

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

and headed to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. After a few months in Zambia, Pohamba was sent to

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

for medical training. She also received military training and worked in the camps where the refugees from Namibia were housed. She was then sent to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

for a three-year period to study midwifery. Her husband (Malakias) was killed in a land mine explosion and by that time she had their daughter, Ndelitungapo Shiluwa (born 1973). She was sent back to Angola to practice her medical skills among her own people. In August 1981, Pohamba was sent to

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

to study politics at a college designed for

ns. In 1983, she returned to Angola, where she married future President

, and they had three children, Tulongeni (meaning "Let's work") (born 1986), Kaupumhote (meaning "In this world you will not finish the bad people") (born 1988) and Ndapanda (meaning "I'm grateful") (born 1991), who was born shortly after independence. In her tenure as First Lady, Pohamba advocated for the empowerment of women to enable them to make a meaningful contribution to the development of society and fought for the eradication of violence and other forms of injustice against women. She has also been active in supporting maternal and child health-care, and also in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In July 2006, Penehupifo Pohamba was elected Vice-President for the Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC). She is a professional midwife after being trained in Tanzania and Jamaica. Before her husband became president, she practised as a midwife and registered nurse. She is also the patron of the Lady Pohamba Private Hospital (LPPH). 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 ...

2014 she was conferred the Most Brilliant Order of the Sun, First Class.

Private life

The Pohamba couple owns farm Guinaspoh #41 near Otavi.

External links

*http://www.mtctnamibia.com/documents/firstlady.pdf

Early life

Political career

Private life

External links

Sources

Notes

Further reading