Kuugongelwa-Amadhila honours Tjitendero’s impartial leadership legacy

National Assembly speaker Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has paid tribute to founding speaker Mosé Tjitendero, describing him as a principled leader who presided over parliamentary debates without fear or favour.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila made these remarks on Sunday during the marking of Tjitendero’s 20th death anniversary at Heroes’ Acre in Windhoek.

She said Tjitendero’s central achievement as the first speaker of the National Assembly was establishing the impartiality of the chair as a democratic norm that transcended party affiliation.

“In the National Assembly, where political diversity was real and sometimes sharp, Dr Tjitendero presided without fear or favour,” she said.

She noted that his leadership helped build the early credibility of parliament as an institution belonging to all Namibians, while asserting its autonomy as a state organ with oversight over the executive.

“His actions in this regard were not incidental,” she added.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila also reflected on her early days as finance minister, recalling a moment when she and Tjitendero clashed during proceedings of a parliamentary standing committee report.

She said Tjitendero firmly refused to allow her to debate the contents of the report on the floor of the House.

“The tradition was that the report is either rejected or adopted. You cannot argue its contents and seek to amend it during debate,” she said.

“I was very strong about something in the report. So, now I was insisting on taking the chair and he was firm not to allow me continue with the argument saying, ‘minister, you either support the report or you object.’ After two attempts to change the content, I objected,” she recalled.

She added that during Tjitendero’s 14-year tenure, from 1990 to 2004, the legislative record of the National Assembly was substantial.

Among the key moments of that period, she remembered debates around the Married Persons Equality Act of 1996, noting that some Swapo members brought bibles to parliament to argue against equal rights in marriage, citing beliefs that men should remain heads of households.

“His tenure also saw the repeal of various native laws which were racially discriminatory and at variance with our Constitution,” she said.

Tjitendero, a former Swapo central committee member, served as speaker from 1990 until 2004.

He died in April 2006 at the age of 63.

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