Dinyando was a humble technocrat, says Mbambo

KAVANGO governor Samuel Mbambo said Namibia has lost a humble technocrat in the late Ambassador to Austria, Raphael Dinyando, whom he described as a “a man of few words”.

Mbambo told The Namibian yesterday that the late diplomat was a “quiet man but when he spoke, what he said always made sense”.

Dinyando died on Tuesday at the state hospital in Vienna, Austria. Mbambo, the former Namibian Ambassador to India and Dinyando both served on diplomatic missions and they both attended Rundu Secondary School at the same time.

He recalled how Dinyando was as an active unionist before independence. “His type of people are very few. He was humble and observant,” Mbambo said.

The last time the two spoke was when the late Dinyando called Mbambo to congratulate him on his appointment as governor of Kavango in April this year.

Dinyando, whose other name was Nakare, was born at Divundu in the Kavango East Region on 2 August 1960. He is survived by a wife and four children.

His death was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. “The Ministry is in the process of facilitating the repatriation of his remains to Namibia and further announcements regarding funeral arrangements will be made in due course,” said acting permanent secretary Wilbard Hellao.

“The ministry would like to express its heart-felt condolences to the bereaved family of Ambassador Dinyando and wishes them strength and solace during this difficult time,” Hellao said in a statement.

According to a book titled ‘Who is Who in Namibian Politics’, Dinyando was a Swapo activist since 1986 and during the transition to independence in 1989-90, he was the deputy head of Swapo’s office at Rundu.

He attended the University of Zululand in South Africa from 1982 to 1985 where he graduated with a diploma in local government and administration.

Dinyando served on the Security Commission – the constitutional body which makes recommendations to the President on top army and police appointments and other security matters – from 2001 to 2005.

Dinyando was the founding Mayor of Rundu in 1992 and was appointed deputy minister of Information and Communication Technology in 2005 before he was assigned as Ambassador to Austria in 2010.

Dinyando joins a list of prominent politicians from the ruling party who have died this year among them Education Minister Abraham Iyambo who died in February; Grootfontein regional councillor Bromeus Bollo Matheus, Kavango governor Marius Nekaro and Omaheke governor Rapama Kamehozu who all died in March.

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