Vekuii Rukoro
Vekuii Reinhard Rukoro (11 November 1954 – 18 June 2021) was a
Paramount Chief of the Herero people.[1] He also served in Namibia's Parliament from 1989 to 2000 and, in Cabinet, as Attorney General of Namibia from 1995 to 2000. Rukoro died on 18 June 2021, of COVID-19
.
Early life and education
Rukoro was born on 11 November 1954, in
Washington College of Law (Washington, D.C., United States) in 1987.[2]
Career
Rukoro joined the
South West Africa National Union (SWANU) in 1975 and became its secretary-general but left with a group of dissidents in 1978 to form the South West Africa National Union Progressives (SWANU-P). He returned to SWANU, again became secretary-general in 1984, and the party's president in 1989.[3]
SWANU, like SWANU-P, merged into the
Constituent Assembly of Namibia where he was one of the main drafters of Namibia's Constitution.[2][4]
After Namibian independence in 1990 Rukoro was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice. He served until 1995 when, by then a member of SWAPO, he occupied the position of attorney-general. He entered a business career in 2000 as Managing Director of Sanlam Namibia, chairman of Air Namibia,[2] and CEO of First National Bank (2006–2013) and thereafter served as CEO of Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco).[5]
OvaHerero chieftainship
After the June 2014 death of
OvaHerero people vacant, Fanuel Tumbee Tjombe acted for a short time. He died weeks after taking the position. In September 2014, Rukoro was appointed Paramount Chief. In his acceptance speech he reportedly "had to fight back tears".[6]
Death
He died on 18 June 2021 at the age of 66 from the consequences of an infection with COVID-19 in Windhoek during the COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia.[7]
References
Notes
- ^ 30 August 2018 – Nachrichten am Morgen. Hitradio Namibia, 30 August 2018.
- ^ a b c Dierks, Klaus. "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, R". klausdierks.com. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^ Torreguitar 2009, p. 397.
- ^ Tonchi, Lindeke & Grotpeter 2012, p. 397.
- ^ Khobetsi, Lorato (8 February 2013). "Adv. Rukoro to head Meatco". Namibia Economist. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- NAMPA. 23 September 2014.
- ^ Namibia: Herero Chief Vekuii Rukoro dies after COVID diagnosis - website of international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle
Literature
- Tonchi, Victor L; Lindeke, William A; Grotpeter, John J (2012). Historical Dictionary of Namibia. Historical Dictionaries of Africa, African historical dictionaries (2 ed.). Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810879904.
- Torreguitar, Elena (2009). National Liberation Movements in Office: Forging Democracy with African Adjectives in Namibia. European University Studies; Political Science. Vol. 567. ISBN 978-3631579954.
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