Utoni Daniel Nujoma (born 8 September 1952) 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 politician who serves as Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation since March 2020. He has served in various government ministerial positions in the government since 2010. Nujoma is also a member of both 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 the

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 ...

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 ...

. He is the first born son of Namibia's founding 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 ...

, who was in office as president from 1990 to 2005, and

Kovambo Nujoma Kovambo Theopoldine Katjimune Nujoma (née Mushimba; born 10 March 1933) is a Namibian political figure and former First Lady of Namibia. Nujoma, who is the wife of former president Sam Nujoma, served as the inaugural First Lady of Namibia for f ...

, the former

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 ...

Education and early life

Nujoma was born 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 20 ...

Old Location The Old Location (or as it was known then the Main Location) was an area Apartheid, segregated for Black residents of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was situated in the area between today's suburbs of Hochland Park and Pioneers Park. Histor ...

(now

Hochland Park Hochland Park (also ''Hochlandpark'', seldom ''Highland Park'') is a residential suburb in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is named after the German ''Khomas Hochland'', the central-Namibian plateau area in which Windhoek is situated. Hochlan ...

) and raised by his mother Kovambo, as his father, SWAPO leader

left for exile when Utoni was eight years old. He attended Rhenish Missionary School in Windhoek and later the Augustineum but was expelled in 1972 due to his political activity. In May 1974, Nujoma and his two brothers John and Sacky left to join their father in exile in

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

. In 1974, Nujoma was sent to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to receive training in

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

. After his return to

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

he was stationed at the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the Sout ...

s military base of Shaatotwa. After

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

became independent in 1975, he was transferred there. In 1986, Nujoma was sent to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

for studies in political science; he returned home to

South-West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

in 1988. After the

independence of Namibia The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

, he graduated with an

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(1990) and with an LL.M. degree from

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

(1996).

Political career

Nujoma served as deputy permanent secretary in the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

between 1992 and 1997. He was first elected to the

at the party's August 2002 congress, receiving 316 votes and placing 22nd out of the 57 members elected. He has served as a member 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 close ...

and became Deputy Minister of Justice in 2004. He received the second highest number of votes in the election for members of the central committee at SWAPO's November 2007 congress. Nujoma was promoted to

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in 2010. In the wake of the December 2012 SWAPO congress and the subsequent

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

reshuffle, Nujoma became Minister of Justice, succeeding

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 ...

. Nujoma was appointed as Minister of Land Reform by president

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 ...

in March 2015. In 2020, he was appointed to lead the Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nujoma, Utoni Living people 1952 births Politicians from Windhoek Ovambo people Foreign ministers of Namibia Justice ministers of Namibia Labour ministers of Namibia Land reform ministers of Namibia Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Namibian Lutherans Alumni of the University of Warwick Lund University alumni Augustineum Secondary School alumni People's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel SWAPO politicians Children of national leaders