Ponhele Ya France
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Ponhele Andrew Mbidi ya France (8 January 1948 in
Epuku Epuku is a village in Ohangwena Region, Namibia. Located 30 km north of Ondangwa, the village was the site of a grave for seven People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) combatants who died in battle with the occupying South African Defence Forc ...
, Ohangwena Region - 8 February 2010 in Windhoek) was a Namibian politician and trade unionist. A longtime member of
SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: SĂĽdwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...
, ya France was elected into the National Assembly of Namibia from 2000 to 2005. He was head of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation from 2005 to 2008.


Early life and exile

Ya France attended primary school at Okatope and Onekwaya and secondary school at
Odibo Odibo is a village in the north of Namibia close to the Angolan border known for its Anglican mission ''St Mary''. It belongs to the Oshikango electoral constituency in the Ohangwena Region. Odibo is also an Archdeaconry in the Diocese of Nam ...
. His years at secondary school were interrupted by several periods of contract labour work in Oranjemund, experiences that shaped him politically. In 1974 he decided to go into exile to join the liberation movement. He received military training in Zambia and in December 1974 was sent to Angola to fight on the Northern Front. In 1976 he went to ''Leninist Komsomol Higher School'' in the Soviet Union to take up political studies for one year. After his return to Angola he worked as radio announcer for the liberation station '' Voice of Namibia'' in Luanda in 1977 and 1978. At the start of the 1980s he secured a scholarship and took up political science and philosophy at the Karl Marx University in East Germany. He graduated in 1985 with a Master's degree.


Return to Namibia

In the late 1980s ya France worked in Angola in different management positions in SWAPO and the ''Pan African Youth Movement''. Shortly before Namibian independence in March 1990 he returned from exile. He helped establish the new Ministry of Labour but in 1993 took over the presidency of the
National Union of Namibian Workers The National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) is one of three national trade union centers in Namibia. It was established in 1970 and is affiliated with SWAPO, Namibia's ruling political party. History NUNW was originally established as a gene ...
(NUNW), Namibia's largest labour union. He stayed in that position until becoming a member of the National Assembly in 2000. In 2004 he was not re-elected to parliament, having been at place 71 on the party list for the 72 seat body. He took over the position of chairman of the board of directors of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation in 2005. In 2008 he was fired at the initiative of the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Joel Kaapanda. Ya France was member of SWAPO's
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 special advisor to the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs from its inception to his death. Ponhele ya France was known for his opposition against worker's exploitation, and for his strong criticism of Namibian land reform, which in his opinion went far too slow. He advocated against the agreed "Willing buyer, willing seller" policy or market reform measures adopted by the SWAPO government, both as president of NUNW and as member of Parliament. Ya France was married with five children. He died from cancer in February 2010 in Windhoek.Ponhele ya France passes on
New Era, 10 February 2010


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France, Ponhele ya 1948 births 2010 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Namibian trade unionists Deaths from cancer in Namibia People from Ohangwena Region People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel SWAPO politicians