Zedekia Josef Ngavirue (Zed Ngavirue) (4 March 1933 – 24 June 2021) was a Namibian academic and long-serving Namibian ambassador to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

as well as to Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Education and career

Ngavirue was educated at

Augustineum Secondary School 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 ...

, Waterberg and Stofberg. He received a B.Phil. degree from the

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in Sweden and a Doctor of Philosophy from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in the United Kingdom. He was a member of SWANU. Ngavirue founded ''The South West News'' a newspaper in English, Afrikaans,

Otjiherero Herero (, ''Otjiherero'') is a Bantu language spoken by the Herero and Mbanderu peoples in Namibia and Botswana, as well as by small communities of people in southwestern Angola. There were 211,700 speakers in 2014. Distribution Its linguist ...

and

Oshiwambo The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshi ...

, and edited with

Emil Appolus Emil Appolus (10 March 1935, in Vaalgras, ǁKaras Region - 28 May 2005, in Keetmanshoop) was a Namibian politician and businessperson. Living in Cape Town, Appolus was part of early discussions on Namibian independence. In 1957, Appolus became a f ...

who later played a prominent role in the

South West African National Union The South West Africa National Union (SWANU) is a Namibian political party founded in 1959. Most of its members came from the Herero people, while fellow independence movement SWAPO was mostly an Ovambo party. The party's president is Charles ...

(SWANU). Ngavirue left Namibia in 1960, serving as a lecturer at the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

between 1972 and 1978 before returning to his native country in 1981. He worked in various managerial positions at the Rössing uranium mine from 1983 1989. Following Namibia's independence, Ngavirue became director-general of the National Planning Commission from 1990 to 1995. He was the Namibian Ambassador to the EU and Belgium in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

between 1995 and 2003. Although he retired in 2003, Ngavirue occasionally received

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

appointments. Most prominent among them was his role as special envoy on matters relating to 1904 – 1908

Herero and Namaqua genocide The Herero and Namaqua genocide or the Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged by the German Empire against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia). ...

. He deliberated with his German counterpart, Ruprecht Polenz and was spearheading discussions with the German government on the 1904-1908 genocide, appointed 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 ...

. Ngavirue also served in the 4th ''Delimitation Commission'', advising on Namibia's administrative division. Ngavirue died from Covid-19 in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngavirue, Zedekia 1933 births 2021 deaths SWANU politicians People from Otjozondjupa Region Namibian academics Augustineum Secondary School alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Uppsala University Academic staff of the University of Papua New Guinea Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia