Peya Mushelenga

Samuel Abraham Peyavali "Peya" Mushelenga (born September 01, 1975 in Oshigambo, Oshikoto Region) is a Namibian politician and poet. A member of SWAPO, Mushelenga has been a member of the National Assembly of Namibia since 2005.

Honourable

Peya Mushelenga
Minister of Information and Communications Technology 
Assumed office
21 March 2020
PresidentHage Geingob
Preceded byStanley Simataa
Minister of Urban and Rural Development
In office
8 February 2018 – 21 March 2020
PresidentHage Geingob
Preceded bySophia Shaningwa
Succeeded byErastus Uutoni
Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
In office
21 March 2010 – 8 February 2018
PresidentHifikepunye Pohamba
Hage Geingob
Succeeded byChristine ǁHoebes
Personal details
Born (1975-09-01) September 1, 1975
Oshigambo, Oshikoto Region
Alma materUniversity of Namibia
Open University of Tanzania
University of South Africa

He has held ministerial positions in Hage Geingob's government, as the Minister of Urban and Rural Development since his appointment from February 2018 to March 2020 and the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies from March 2020 to present.[1][2]

Early life and education

Peya Mushelenga was born at Oshigambo in the Oshikoto Region of northern Namibia. He attended Oluno Senior Secondary School until 1992 and then entered the University of Namibia (UNAM). A holder of 10 university degrees, he attained a BA in History and Political Studies at UNAM in 1995, a B Juris in 2011, a LLB (Honours) in 2014, and a LLM in 2017. In parallel he studied at the Open University of Tanzania, where he obtained the BA in Economics in 2017, B Ed in 2019, and at UNISA where he obtained a BA Honours and an MA in International Politics in 1997 and 2009, respectively, and a D Litt et Phil in 2015. He further studied at the Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute (ESAMI), where he obtained the Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2018 with a meritorious award of Best Performer for Namibia’s class of 2018. In addition he is an admitted Legal Practitioner (Attorney) of the High Court of Namibia. [3]

After his first degree at UNAM Mushelenga worked as teacher at Nehale Senior Secondary School in 1996. He then worked for Government until 1998, and thereafter joined NamPower.[3]

Political career

He became active in the Namibia National Students Organisation in the 1980s and eventually became a high-level organizer for the SWAPO Party Youth League, being elected to the Central Committee and National Executive of the SPYL in 1997 and 2002. He had recently led the big delegation of 250 SWAPO Party Youth League leaders to Sochi Russia, to attend the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students, the event organized by World Federation of Democratic Youth WFDY and the Russian government. Also in 2002, he was elected to the SWAPO Central Committee as its youngest member (re-elected in 2007 and 2012).

Mushelenga became a member of Parliament of Namibia in 2005. In 2010 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.[4] In a major cabinet reshuffle he was promoted to Minister of Urban and Rural Development on 8 February 2018.[5] On 21 March 2020, Mushelenga was appointed Minister of Information and Communications Technology.

Personal

In 1980, South African security forces killed Mushelenga's sister and injured other relatives during a raid on their family home in the former bantustan of Ovamboland. A book of poetry entitled "Nando Na Li Toke", written in the Ovambo dialect of Ndonga, was published by Gamsberg MacMillan in 1996.[6]

References
  1. https://www.thevillager.com.na/articles/12718/from-a-village-boy-to-a-minister-peya-mushelenga/ The Villager Newspaper Namibia
  2. https://www.namibian.com.na/174224/archive-read/List-of-new-Cabinet-changes | List of new Cabinet changes - The Namibian
  3. "Mushelenga, Peya". Parliament of Namibia. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  4. Immanuel, Shinovene; Mongudhi, Tileni (20 March 2015). "Costly Democracy". The Namibian. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  5. Immanuel, Shinovene; Shapwanale, Ndapewoshali (19 February 2018). "Presidency keeps 3 deputies". The Namibian. pp. 1–2.
  6. Peya Mushelenga Archived 2011-06-11 at the Wayback Machine Namibia Institute for Democracy, 2007
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