Ponhele ya France
Ponhele Andrew Mbidi ya France (8 January 1948 in
Early life and exile
Ya France attended primary school at
He received military training in
Return to Namibia
In the late 1980s ya France worked in Angola in different management positions in SWAPO and the Pan African Youth Movement. Shortly before Namibian independence in March 1990 he returned from exile. He helped establish the new Ministry of Labour but in 1993 took over the presidency of the
In 2004 he was not re-elected to parliament, having been at place 71 on the party list for the 72 seat body.
Ponhele ya France was known for his opposition against worker's exploitation, and for his strong criticism of Namibian land reform, which in his opinion went far too slow. He advocated against the agreed "Willing buyer, willing seller" policy or market reform measures adopted by the SWAPO government, both as president of NUNW and as member of Parliament.[1][3]
Ya France was married with five children.[1] He died from cancer in February 2010 in Windhoek.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e Shiremo, Shampapi (25 February 2011). "Ponhele Andrew Mbidi ya France: A campaigner for fairness and justice for all. (1948-2010)". New Era. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ a b "Ponlehe [sic] Ya France". Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) Namibia. 10 February 2010. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.
- ^ a b c "Who's Who – Ponhele ya France". Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID). Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ^ Maletzky, Christof (10 October 2008). "Secret memo targets NBC board chief". The Namibian.
- ^ Ponhele ya France passes on Archived 2012-09-03 at archive.today New Era, 10 February 2010