Ngarikutuke Ernest Tjiriange was a Namibian politician, a member of the National Assembly and former secretary-general of the ruling SWAPO Party.
10 Facts About Ngarikutuke Tjiriange
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Ngarikutuke Tjiriange served in the Namibian cabinet from 1990 to 2010, first as Minister of Justice, then without portfolio, and then as Minister of Veteran Affairs.
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Ngarikutuke Tjiriange became the principal legal advisor of SWAPO in 1970.
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Ngarikutuke Tjiriange was a SWAPO member of the Constituent Assembly, which was in place from November 1989 to March 1990, immediately prior to Namibia's independence.
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Ngarikutuke Tjiriange became Minister of Justice in 1990, serving in that post for thirteen years; he was additionally Attorney-General from March 2000 to January 2001.
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Ngarikutuke Tjiriange was nominated as Secretary-General of SWAPO by President Sam Nujoma at the party's August 2002 congress, and he was elected to that post.
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Ngarikutuke Tjiriange resigned from the National Assembly, as well as from his post as Minister without portfolio, in February 2005 in order to receive payment of a pension; however, he was reappointed Minister without Portfolio by the newly sworn in President Hifikepunye Pohamba on March 21,2005.
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At SWAPO's November 2007 congress, Ngarikutuke Tjiriange failed to be re-elected to the party's politburo.
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Ngarikutuke Tjiriange announced in September 2009 that he would withdraw from active politics to devote more time to farming, but remained a member of the central committee and the secretariat of the Swapo Party.
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Ngarikutuke Tjiriange was declared a national hero of Namibia and awarded a state funeral.