The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus

public research university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national university ...

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 ...

, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on 31 August 1992.

Background

UNAM comprises the following faculties and schools: * Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources * Faculty of Economics & Management Science ** Department of Political Science * Faculty of Education * Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences * Faculty of Law *

School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...

* Faculty of Engineering and Information * Faculty of Science * School of Nursing * School of Pharmacy * School of Public Health * School of Military Science * Centre for Postgraduate Studies Ranked in the top 30 of tertiary institutions on the continent in the past 10 years, UNAM is one of the best universities in Africa. The University of Namibia is the only institution in the world to offer a doctorate in the study of the

Khoekhoe language The Khoekhoe language (), also known by the ethnic terms Nama (''Namagowab'') , Damara (''ǂNūkhoegowab''), or Nama/Damara and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of the non-Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy use o ...

Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology was founded on 1 January 2008 following the dissolution of the Department of Engineering and Technology, which had existed under the Faculty of Science since 2000.

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 ...

, the first

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 ...

and then-chancellor of the university conducted the groundbreaking ceremony at

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 ...

on 17 November 2007. The ceremony took place on a 13-hectare plot of land that had been donated to UNAM by the Ongwediva town council. In January 2008, the National Planning Commission approved funding for the construction of phase 1 of the new Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FOET) in Ongwediva. Construction work began in April 2008 with emphasis on lecture rooms, staff offices, laboratories, IT facilities, student hostels, staff houses and other support facilities. The completion of these facilities (phase 1A) enabled the first batch of students to be admitted in the FOET.

Academics

Notable academics at the University of Namibia have included

Bience Gawanas Bience Philomina Gawanas (born 1956) is a Namibian lawyer. She was appointed in January 2018 as Special Adviser on Africa for the United Nations after having served as Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union Assembly of Heads of St ...

, former ombudsperson, professor

Nico Horn Johannes Nicolaas Horn is a Namibian Professor of Human rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Namibia (UNAM) since 2002. He holds PhDs in Theology and Law, and was an advocate in the Office of the Prosecutor-General, and Prosecutor in ...

André du Pisani André du Pisani (born 15 January 1949) is a Namibia, Namibian political scientist, author of several books, articles and journals, he has written several conference papers for SADC, the Namibian government and several ministries, he is a professor ...

, Lazarus Hangula,

Dorian Haarhoff Dorian Haarhoff (born 1944) is a South African-Namibian writer and poet. Haarhoff was born in 1944 in Kimberley, Northern Cape, then part of the Cape Province. He is a naturalized citizen of Namibia. He wrote his first poem in 1955 and has been pu ...

Elizabeth Amukugo Elizabeth Magano Amukugo (born 1 August 1954, in Windhoek, Khomas Region) is a Namibian politician and academic with the University of Namibia. Early life Amukugo attended Primary education at Onayena Primary School in 1963 to 1970 and receiv ...

Erold Naomab Erold Naomab (born 2 April 1977) is a Namibian academic. He is the vice-chancellor of the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). Early life and education Naomab was born on 2 April 1977. He grew up Omaruru in the Erongo Region o ...

Job Amupanda Job Shipululo Amupanda (born 28 August 1987 in Omaalala, Oshana Region) is a Namibian activist and politician who served as Mayor of the City of Windhoek, in office from 2 December 2020 to 1 December 2021. He is an academic at the University of N ...

and

Günter Heimbeck Günter Heimbeck (born June 23, 1946 in Gunzenhausen, Germany) is a German–Namibian retired professor of mathematics. His particular research interest is geometry; the Heimbeck Planes are named for him. Heimbeck probably is the first and only ...

Marks scandal

There are reports that UNAM's lecturers have been exchanging marks for sexual favors from students and exchanging completed assignment for money. This has resulted in serious academic degradation. Investigating and combating such illegal practices has become an important priority for the Namibian government and UNAM management.

Notable alumni

The University of Namibia has produced several notable and famous public individuals since its founding, including: *

Sebastian Ignatius ǃGobs Sebastian Ignatius ǃGobs (born 4 October 1967 in Omaruru, Erongo Region) is a Namibian politician.Profile
a ...

, Namibian politician – Class of 1995 *

Fransina Kahungu Fransina Kahungu (born 1970) is a Namibian female politician serving as a City of Windhoek Councilor, where she previously served as Deputy Mayor of Windhoek in 2016 and 2017 and Mayor of Windhoek from 2019 to 2020. Early life and career Kah ...

, former mayor of Windhoek *

Theo-Ben Gurirab Theo-Ben Gurirab (23 January 1938 – 14 July 2018) was a Namibian politician who served in various senior government positions. He served as the second Prime Minister of Namibia from 28 August 2002 to 20 March 2005, following the demotion and ...

, received a 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 ...

'' – Class of 1999 *

Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana Pendukeni "Penny" Iivula-Ithana (born 11 October 1952) is a Namibian politician who served as the secretary general of SWAPO, Namibia's ruling party, from 2007 to 2012. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia in 1989 and has been ...

received Bachelor of Laws and B.Juris degrees – class of 1998 and 1999 *

Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari (born 8 December 1974 in Windhoek) is a Namibian who serves as the presidential press secretary to President Hage Geingob. Hengari schooled at A. Shipena High School in Katutura and enrolled for B.A. in political scien ...

, political scientist and presidential spokesperson to

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 ...

– Class of 2001 * Monica Geingos,

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

of the

Republic of 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 ...

and businesswoman – Class of 2002 *

Petrina Haingura Petrina Namutenya Haingura (born 27 July 1959 in Rundu, Okavango Region) is a Namibian politician. Haingura is a member of SWAPO, and she holds a seat in the National Assembly of Namibia since 2005. She grew up in a SWAPO-supporting household and ...

, Namibian politician – Class of 2002 *

Sacky Shanghala Sakeus Edward Twelityaamena "Sacky" Shanghala (born 13 June 1977) is a Namibian lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Justice from 8 February 2018 until November 2019 when he was forced to resign in the wake of the Fishrot scandal. ...

, former Namibian minister of justice – Class of 2003 *

Sisa Namandje Sisa Namandje (born 1972) is a Namibian lawyer prominent for representing high profile namibian figures. He has represented all three Namibian presidents Sam Nujoma, Hifikepunye Pohamba and Hage Geingob. Early life and education Namandje was bor ...

, Namibian lawyer – Class of 2003 *

Bernadus Swartbooi Bernadus Clinton Swartbooi (born 11 October 1977) is a Namibian politician. Swartbooi was a Governor of the ǁKaras Region before being appointed as Namibia's deputy minister of lands and resettlement in 2015 by President Hage Geingob, a positi ...

, Namibian politician and president of the

Landless People's Movement (Namibia) The Landless People's Movement (LPM) is a political party in Namibia. It is led by former deputy minister of lands and resettlement Bernadus Swartbooi, who serves as its president and chief change campaigner, and Henny Seibeb, the party's deputy ...

– Class of 2003 *

Peya Mushelenga Samuel Abraham Peyavali "Peya" Mushelenga (born September 01, 1975 in Oshigambo, Ovamboland) is a Namibian politician and poet. He is broadly educated, holding twelve academic qualifications from six different universities. A member of SWAPO, ...

, Minister of Urban and Rural Development – Class of 2003 *

Tangeni Amupadhi Tangeni Amupadhi is a Namibian journalist. He is the Editor-in-chief of ''The Namibian'', Namibia's largest English daily newspaper. In 2011 he took over from founding and long-serving editor Gwen Lister, who has been in the position for 26 year ...

– journalist and editor of

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 – Class of 2005 *

, Namibian politician and former

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 ...

– Class of 2007 *

Lucia Iipumbu Lucia Magano Iipumbu (born 20 November 1975 in Onamenga near Elim) is a Namibian politician. A member pf SWAPO she entered parliament in 2015 and immediately was appointed as Deputy Minister of Economic and National Planning. After a Cabinet ...

, Deputy Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME development – Class of 2008 *

, Namibian politician and leader of the

Affirmative Repositioning Affirmative Repositioning (AR) is a leftist political movement in Namibia mainly focused on land reform, youth empowerment and social reform. Founded in 2014 by Job Amupanda, Dimbulukeni Nauyoma and George Kambala, the AR uses social media platf ...

and current mayor of Windhoek – Class of 2010 *

Francine Muyumba Francine Furaha Muyumba (born 18 February 1987) is a Congolese activist and politician serving as Senator in the Senate of Congo. Previously, she served as the president of the Panafrican Youth Union, the official youth body of the African Union ...

, Congolese Senator, Former President of the

Panafrican Youth Union The Panafrican Youth Union (PYU) is the apex body for National Youth Coordinating Bodies and Mechanism in Africa. Known formerly as the Panafrican Youth Movement (PYM), it was transformed into the PYU at the organisation's 2003 congress in Windho ...

– Class of 2012 * Joseph Kalimbwe, youth activist and author – Class of 2017 *

Henny Seibeb Henny Hendly Seibeb is a Namibian politician and Member of Parliament who serves as Deputy Leader and Chief Strategist (DLCS) of the Landless People's Movement (Namibia), Landless People's Movement political party which he formed alongside Bernadu ...

, Namibian politician and deputy president of the

– Class of 2019https://www.lelamobile.com/content/66671/Landless-People-s-Movement-seeking-restorative-justice-Seibeb/ Lela Mobile Online – Landless People’s Movement seeking restorative justice: Seibeb *

Inna Hengari Inna Koviao Hengari (born 2 February 1996) is a Namibian politician, student leader and youth activist. A member of the Popular Democratic Movement, she became a member of the National Assembly on 20 March 2020, the youngest since McHenry Venaan ...

, member of Parliament, youth politician and student leader – Class of 2019 * Utaata Mootu, member of Parliament, youth politician – Class of 2019 *

Emma Theofelus Emma Inamutila Theofelus (born 28 March 1996) is a Namibian politician, currently serving as deputy Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (Namibia), minister of Information, Communication and Technology. She is the current younges ...

, member of Parliament, youth politician – Class of 2019 *

Patience Masua Patience Masua (born 7 January 1999) is a Namibian politician and lawyer. She serves as a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly, after being appointed by President Hage Geingob in April, 2021, becoming Namibia's youngest Member of Parliame ...

, member of Parliament, youth politician - Class of 2020

References

External links

University of Namibia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Namibia, University of Universities in Namibia Educational institutions established in 1992 1992 establishments in Namibia