The desk officer on the verge of presidency

A typical 27-year-old Namibian youth is either “chopping life” or struggling to find a steady job.

In the world of social media, it’s even worse. Many pretend to afford a lavish lifestyle, but it’s all hat and no cattle.

But not for “quick learner” Saara Nandjila Kuugogelwa-Amadhila, who at the same age was ushered into a Cabinet position as director-general of the National Planning Commission (NPC) in 1995.

Then president Sam Nujoma plucked her from relative obscurity. She was an intelligence officer within the presidency, sugar-coated with the title ‘desk officer’.

Born on 12 October 1967 at Otamanzi in present-day Omusati Region, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila went into exile in 1980 at the age of 13, and continued with primary education at Koidus Girls Secondary School in Sierra Leone in 1984, before completing secondary education at St Joseph’s Secondary School in the same country in 1987.

Trip into exile

Her elder sister, a teacher, lured her into going into exile – on the promise of securing better opportunities for education.

“They sneaked out of the house in the dead of the night, without their parents knowing,” a family member said.

The youngest of five children, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila is a daughter of Fillemon Kuugongelwa Shaanika yaNashilongo, born into the Ongandjera royal family. Her mother, Alina, is of Ondonga origins.

After secondary school in Sierra Leone, she went to pursue a bachelor of science in economics at Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, USA, from 1991 to 1994, where she graduated and returned home.

“Nujoma was instrumental in sending her to the USA for studies,” a former presidential aide told Namibian Sun.

The first few days at the NPC were a baptism of fire for the vicenarian. She had to table the country’s first ever national development plan, NDP1, which aimed at boosting and sustaining economic growth, creating employment, reducing inequalities in income distribution and reducing poverty.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila weathered that storm and would be instrumental in launching NDP2 in 2002.

Having excelled at NPC, Nujoma promoted her to finance minister in 2003 – a year after she joined the Swapo politburo. She would become the country’s longest-serving finance minister, having served for 12 years in that capacity.

Presidential ambitions

Last week, the almost-55-year-old was confirmed as one of the women and men seeking to succeed President Hage Geingob as head of state.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has the tools to ascend to the country’s top office. First, she has a fraction of Geingob’s backing, at least as a fall-back plan. Geingob’s preferred cup of tea is defence minister Frans Kapofi.

Second, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has the strong backing of the business community – in part because SMEs and emerging businesses thrived during her tenure.

“Paife oshilongo oshina ondjala (now the country has hunger),” remarked one business owner who said under Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, economic policies were friendlier and businesses flourished.

Third, she is seen by her supporters in Swapo as the perfect fit for a transition from liberation struggle politics into a new era of leaning more towards economic progression.

“The fact that she lasted so long in the finance portfolio speaks volumes of how prudent she was as head of treasury. She recorded budget surpluses, and the country embarked on serious investment into infrastructure without excessive borrowing,” an analyst who does not want to be dragged into Swapo succession politics said yesterday.

“Many great institutions such as the Development Bank of Namibia [DBN] were created under her tenure as finance minister. And these institutions became very vital for especially black businesses.

“If you look everywhere in the world, many of the current heads of state are people with a strong finance or economic background – and Saara represents that breed of leaders,” they said.

“She can engage, without a scrap of paper in her hand, at any global platform with any leader. That’s how informed she is.”

Achilles heel

But Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has not been above reproach. She faced intense scrutiny over the way she acquired a farm she eventually sold to government, with questions raised on whether she used a local businessman – who only owned the farm for nine months – as a conduit in the deal.

Government had previously declined to buy the land, citing that it was not suitable for resettlement purposes.

A banker then acquired it from the previous owner in February 2012 and, in a matter of months, sold it to the prime minister in December of the same year.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila sold the farm, which cost her N$5.2 million, to government in 2020 for a cool N$14.5 million.

DBN’s alleged failure to institute strong action against her husband, businessman Onesmus 'Tona' Amadhila, despite him being in arrears on loans worth N$180 million, has also prompted the prime minister to issue public denials.

“Amadhila is a business person and has been in business prior to being my husband. His dealings with any institution, public or private, are subject to the applicable policies as approved, and I have never used my position to secure special treatment for him,” she said at the time.