24 Facts About Hidipo Hamutenya

Hidipo Livius Hamutenya was a Namibian politician.

Veteran politician Hidipo Hamutenya died at 77 after a short illness.

Hidipo Hamutenya was defeated in a bid for the party's presidential nomination in 2004 and left SWAPO to form an opposition group, the Rally for Democracy and Progress, in 2007.

Hidipo Hamutenya was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia with RDP in the 2009 general election.

Hidipo Hamutenya was forced to step down as RDP president on 28 February 2015 and rejoined SWAPO on 28 August 2015.

Hidipo Livius Hamutenya was born in Odibo in the Ohangwena Region of northern Namibia.

Hidipo Hamutenya's father, Aaron Hamutenya, was a founding member of SWAPO.

Hidipo Hamutenya attended primary school at Odibo and Engela and then participated at the Augustineum Teachers Training College in Okahandja from 1959 to 1961.

Hidipo Hamutenya met other political activists there and participated when the 1959 Old Location Uprising spilled over from Windhoek to Augustine.

In 1971 Hidipo Hamutenya graduated from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with an MA.

Hidipo Hamutenya served as SWAPO's representative to the Americas from 1965 to 1972 and as SWAPO's secretary for education from 1974 to 1976.

Hidipo Hamutenya joined the SWAPO politburo in August 1976, and at the same time he was a founding member of the United Nations Institute for Namibia in Lusaka; at the UNIN, Hamutenya was deputy director and head of the History and Political Science department from 1976 to 1981.

Hidipo Hamutenya served as Minister of Information and Broadcasting until April 15,1993, when he was instead appointed Minister of Trade and Industry, trading posts with Ben Amathila.

Hidipo Hamutenya remained in the latter position for nine years, until he became Minister of Foreign Affairs on 27 August 2002 in a cabinet reshuffle.

In May 2004 Hidipo Hamutenya sought SWAPO's nomination as its candidate for the presidential election which took place later in 2004; his candidacy was proposed by Mose Penaani Tjitendero and seconded by Hartmut Ruppel.

In November 2007, Hidipo Hamutenya resigned from SWAPO and from his seat in the National Assembly, where he had served for 17 years.

In November 2009, Hidipo Hamutenya was the RDP's candidate for President of Namibia.

Hidipo Hamutenya finished in second place with 88,640 votes behind SWAPO candidate and incumbent president Hifikepunye Pohamba.

Hidipo Hamutenya was placed at the top of the RDP's electoral list and was one of eight RDP members elected to the National Assembly of Namibia.

The RDP performed poorly in the 2014 general election, and Hidipo Hamutenya subsequently faced pressure from within the party to retire.

Hidipo Hamutenya said in March 2015 that he was retiring, leaving the way open for the party to elect a new leader, although he shortly afterward claimed he had been forced to retire against his will.

Hidipo Hamutenya attempted to claim a parliamentary seat when the National Assembly began meeting for its new term in March 2015 but later opted against taking a seat paving the way for his return to SWAPO.

Hidipo Hamutenya was one of the leading diplomats of the struggle for the independence of Namibia.

Hidipo Hamutenya supervised the composition of Namibia's national anthem, "Namibia, Land of the Brave" while serving as chairman of the National Symbols subcommittee.