NAMIBIA has marked another historic milestone with the election of Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila as the first woman Speaker of its National Assembly. According to The Namibian, the former prime minister secured the position in a parliamentary vote on Thursday, following the swearing-in of newly elected MPs.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila received 55 votes, defeating Landless People’s Movement leader Bernadus Swartbooi, who garnered 40 votes. Her election ushers in a new chapter for Namibia’s legislature, reinforcing the country’s steady progress toward gender equality in leadership roles.
‘I am grateful for being elected despite our political affiliations,’ Kuugongelwa-Amadhila told parliament after the vote. ‘We must prioritise national interests above all else.’ She called on lawmakers to uphold democratic principles and work toward making Namibia a better nation.
A political career of firsts
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has been a fixture in Namibian politics for nearly three decades. She joined the National Assembly in 1995 at age 27 and became director-general of the National Planning Commission shortly after. Her rapid rise was guided by founding President Sam Nujoma, who appointed her as Minister of Finance in 2003.
In 2015, she made history as Namibia’s first woman prime minister, a position she held until March 2025. Despite her unsuccessful bid for SWAPO’s vice presidency in 2022, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila remains one of Namibia’s most prominent and influential politicians.
Her appointment as Speaker is widely seen as another historic achievement in a career filled with firsts. Although some critics view her new role as a step down from prime minister, many observers note the symbolic weight of her election as the first woman to preside over Namibia’s parliament.
Early life and education
Born in 1967 in Otamanzi near Okahao in the Omusati region, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was the youngest of five children. Orphaned at 12, she was adopted by Namibia’s liberation struggle, eventually joining SWAPO’s refugee camps in Angola. Her commitment to the cause led her to further education in Sierra Leone and later at Lincoln University in the United States, where she earned a degree in economics.
Her academic background laid the foundation for a career in public administration and fiscal management. As an economist in the Presidency during Nujoma’s administration, she quickly gained a reputation for competence, eventually managing Namibia’s National Planning Commission and the finance ministry.
Achievements and controversies
During her tenure as finance minister, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was credited with turning a budget deficit into a surplus in the 2006/07 fiscal year. However, her time in office was also marked by controversial projects and escalating national debt under President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s administration.
Projects such as the mass housing initiative and the Targeted Intervention Programme for Employment and Economic Growth (TIPEEG) were criticised for wasteful spending, contributing to a rise in government debt from N$13bn in 2006 to N$56bn ($3bn) by 2015.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has also faced allegations of poor oversight in projects like the oil storage facility, whose cost ballooned to N$6.5bn. She has denied any wrongdoing. Critics argue her leadership style was sometimes indecisive, particularly in managing cabinet ministers and implementing fiscal discipline.
Additionally, her husband, businessman Onesmus Tobias Amadhila, has been linked to controversies, raising further public scrutiny of her tenure in high office.
A new chapter for Namibia’s parliament
Despite these challenges, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s election as Speaker signals a significant step in the evolution of Namibia’s democratic institutions. Her historic appointment continues the trend of women breaking barriers in the country’s political landscape, following closely on the heels of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s inauguration as Namibia’s first female president.
As Speaker, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila will oversee debates and legislation in the National Assembly for the next five years. Many hope her experience and institutional knowledge will foster a more inclusive and productive parliamentary environment.
Namibia now joins a small but growing list of African nations where women occupy both the presidency and the leadership of the national legislature, marking another progressive milestone for the southern African nation.
