Theo-Ben Gurirab (23 January 1938 – 14 July 2018) was 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 politician who served in various senior government positions. He served as the second

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 ...

from 28 August 2002 to 20 March 2005, following the demotion and subsequent resignation of

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 2012 ...

. Previously he was the country's first Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 2002, and was President of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

from 1999 to 2000. He was Speaker of the

National Assembly of Namibia The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of clos ...

from 2005 to 2015, when he was replaced by

Peter Katjavivi Peter Hitjitevi Katjavivi (born 12 May 1941) is a Namibian politician who is the Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia since March 2015 and the chancellor of the Namibia University of Science and Technology from 1992 to 2003. Previously he ...

. Gurirab ultimately resigned from politics in 2015.

Early life and education

Gurirab was born on 23 January 1938 in

Usakos , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , motto = Excelsior , image_skyline = Usakos Luftaufnahme (2018).jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_caption = Aerial photograph of Usakos (2018) ...

in the

Erongo Region Erongo is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. The capital is Swakopmund. It is named after Mount Erongo, a well-known landmark in Namibia and in this area. Erongo contains the municipalities of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Omaruru, as ...

. In 1960 he obtained a teaching diploma from the

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 ...

Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 24,100 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the ...

, and in 1964 while in exile in the United States he graduated with a degree in political science from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

in Pennsylvania.

Political career

Gurirab was in

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

from 1962 to 1989. He fled first to

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

, where he won a United Nations study fellowship and relocated to the United States. He was Associate Representative of 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 ...

Mission to United Nations and United States from 1964 to 1972, then Head of the SWAPO Mission to the United Nations from 1972 to 1986. Subsequently he was SWAPO's Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1986 to 1990.Profile
t Namibian Parliament website. He was a SWAPO member of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990, immediately prior to independence, and the "key drafter" of Namibia's Constitution. From 1990 to 2015 he was a member of the National Assembly, and he also served on the

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

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

of SWAPO. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from independence in 1990 until he was appointed as Prime Minister by President

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

on 27 August 2002, replacing

. While serving as Foreign Minister, he was elected as the President of the

on 14 September 1999, serving in that position until September 2000. Among Gurirab's achievements at the UN was chairing the negotiations that brought about the reintegration of

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The c ...

into Namibian territory, in fulfilment of Security Council resolution 432. Following the 2004 election, Gurirab was elected as Speaker of the National Assembly at the beginning of the new parliamentary term on 20 March 2005. He received the sixth highest number of votes—377—in the election to the Central Committee of SWAPO at the party's August 2002 congress. He was again one of the highest scoring candidates in the election to the Central Committee at SWAPO's November 2007 congress. From 2008 to 2011, Gurirab was the President of the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...

(IPU), an international organisation of parliaments of sovereign states. Gurirab was re-elected to the National Assembly in the November 2009 parliamentary election, in which SWAPO retained a large majority of seats. When the MPs took their seats for the new parliamentary term on 19 March 2010, they unanimously re-elected Gurirab to his post as Speaker of the National Assembly. Speaking on that occasion, Guiriab stressed the importance of the Constitution: "As one of its authors, and among the longest serving public officials, and founders of our Republic, I know of the highest vision the Constitution provides for Namibia, as well as the promise of national unity, reconciliation, democracy, the rule of law, human dignity, socio-economic emancipation and the commitment to protect the gains of our long and bitter struggle for liberation and independence." In late August 2014, when SWAPO chose its list of parliamentary candidates for the November 2014 general election, Gurirab was not on the list. When the National Assembly began meeting for its new term on 20 March 2015, Gurirab was succeeded as Speaker by

.Shinovene Immanuel
"Katjavivi vows to keep MPs in line"
''The Namibian'', 23 March 2015.

Death

Gurirab died at a

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 20 ...

hospital on 14 July 2018 of natural causes. He is buried at Heroes' Acre.

Awards

* 1999: Doctorate of Law ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'',

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 ...

* Order of the Sun First Class * since 2002: member of the

International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF) is a non-governmental organization which researches Holocaust rescuers and advocates for their recognition. The organization developed educational programs for school to promote peace and civil ...

* 2000: Honorary Professorship of Foreign Affairs,

China Foreign Affairs University China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU; ) is a public university for diplomats located in Beijing, China. It is jointly administrated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese state Double First Class Un ...

, Beijing. Gurirab was only the third foreigner to be bestowed with this title. * 2000: Founding member of the Olympic Truce Foundation in Athens * 2011: Honorary President of the IPU

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurirab, Theo-Ben 1938 births 2018 deaths Prime Ministers of Namibia Speakers of the National Assembly (Namibia) Foreign ministers of Namibia Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Permanent Representatives of Namibia to the United Nations People from Usakos Damara people SWAPO politicians Namibian diplomats Augustineum Secondary School alumni