Namibia’s first elections director, Gerhard Tötemeyer, who was also a member of the National Assembly and deputy minister of regional and local government and housing, has died aged 88.
His death was confirmed by Swapo secretary General Sophia Shaningwa on Wednesday.
Tötemeyer died at his home at Swakopmund on Tuesday.
After Namibia gained independence in 1989, Tötemeyer was appointed to the first Delimitation Commission, which was responsible for dividing Namibia into regions, constituencies and local authority areas.
From 1992 to 1998, he served as director of elections, overseeing the first local authority, regional council, National Assembly and presidential elections after independence.
In 2000, he became a member of parliament and deputy minister of regional and local government and housing, until his retirement in 2004.
Following retirement, Tõtemeyer continued contributing to various parastatal boards and served as vice chairperson of the National Council of Higher Education in Namibia.
He remained active as a researcher and publisher, having published extensively on topics including public administration, decentralisation, governance, policy issues, electoral matters, higher education, religious issues and reconciliation.
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