Sakeus Edward Twelityaamena "Sacky" Shanghala (born 13 June 1977) 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 lawyer and politician who served as the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 8 February 2018 until November 2019 when he was forced to resign in the wake of the Fishrot scandal. He previously also served as Attorney General of Namibia from 2015 to 2018. Shanghala is a former chairperson of the Law Reform and Development Commission which he chaired between 2010 and 2015.

Early life and education

Shanghala was born on 13 June 1977 in

Outapi Outapi wa Nakafingo na Temba, also Outapi or Uutapi and Ombalantu, is a town in northern Namibia near the border with Angola situated northwest of Oshakati. It is the capital of Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electoral co ...

in former

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts ...

. He is the son of retired ELCIN bishop Josephat Shanghala. His mother Ndamona was a nurse at Oshakati State Hospital; She died in the

1988 Oshakati bomb blast The 1988 Oshakati bomb blast was a bombing in Oshakati, Ovamboland, South West Africa (now Oshana Region, Namibia) which killed 27 people and left 70 others injured on 19 February 1988. The target of the bombing was the Barclay's Bank in the town. ...

. Before completing his high school education at the

Oshigambo High School Oshigambo High School, also Oshigambo Senior Secondary School, is a school in Oshigambo in the Oshikoto Region of northern Namibia. It is situated approximately 30 km east of Ondangwa. Oshigambo High School is surrounded by some of the speci ...

, he got his basic education at International Primary School in

Ongwediva Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private sch ...

. He studied at

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the follow ...

, where he graduated with B Juris and LLB degrees in 1998 and 2000 respectively.

Political career

Shanghala is a member of the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) party. In 1997 while on an internship at the Namibia Non-Governmental Organisation Forum (Nangof), Shanghala met

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 201 ...

, then

Prime Minister of Namibia The prime minister of the Republic of Namibia is the leader of the Government of Namibia. The prime minister is appointed by the President of Namibia and co-ordinates the work of the Cabinet. They also advise and assist the president in the exe ...

. Geingob hired him as special assistant shortly thereafter. He served in that position until late 2001. He then worked as the special advisor to the Attorney General. In 2010, he was appointed the chairperson of the Law Reform and Development Commission. He became a member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in 2015 and was appointed Attorney General in the same year. In a cabinet reshuffle in February 2018, Shanghala became

. In 2019, he placed 53rd on the SWAPO party list of parliamentary candidates, which would have guaranteed his seat in parliament because SWAPO ended up winning 63 seats in the 2019 election

Business career

In 2004 Shanghala and two partners trading as Hanganeni Investment Holdings won a government contract to supply fuel to National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR), Namibia's national oil company. ''

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 ...

'' estimated that the deal got them 100 million N$ in private wealth. Until at least 2007, Shanghala was working as a lawyer for the Namibian government despite being on its payroll through his position in the Ministry of Justice. After being appointed Attorney General, Shanghala "hit the ground running, and got busy working on reforming laws – mostly for his benefit."

Fishrot scandal

In November 2019 he was forced to resign his ministerial post over allegations that he took bribes in exchange for providing fishing quotas to the Icelandic fishing company Samherji, later being removed from the National Assembly and the Swapo Party list. Part of '' The Fishrot Six'', he and former fisheries minister

Bernhardt Esau Bernhardt Martin Esau, also ''Bernhard'' or ''Bernard'' (born 9 December 1957), is a Namibian politician. A member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Esau has been a member of the National Assembly since being nominated by ...

were subsequently arrested on these charges. In 2021, Shanghala was removed from the SWAPO party politburo, one of the party's top decision-making structures.

References

External links

* https://www.facebook.com/pages/Namibia-Law-Reform-Development-Commission/331063310360092 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shanghala, Sacky Living people SWAPO politicians Attorneys-General of Namibia Justice ministers of Namibia 1977 births University of Namibia alumni