SWAPO

The **South West Africa People’s Organisation** (, **SWAPO**; , **SWAVO**; , **SWAVO**), officially known as the **SWAPO Party of Namibia** is a political party in Namibia. It has been the most powerful party in the country since the country became independent from South Africa in 1990. It was a former independence and populist movement in South West Africa and was one of the main groups fighting in the South African Border War.

### Foundation

SWAPO was started on 19 April 1960. The leaders named the party to show that it represented all Namibians, but the organisation is popular among Ovambo people of northern Namibia, who are nearly half the total population of South West Africa.

### South West Africa

During 1962, SWAPO had became the main independence, anti-colonial organisation for the people in Namibia. SWAPO used guerrilla tactics to fight the colonial South African Defence Force. A major conflict broke out on 26 of August 1966, when a group of the South African Police and SWAPO forces shot at each other. This became the start of what became known in South Africa as the Border War.

The neighbouring country of Angola gained its independence on 11 November 1975 during the Portuguese Colonial war. The leftist Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) came to power as the main party of Angola. In March 1976, the MPLA offered SWAPO bases in Angola for launching attacks against the South African military.

### Modern Namibia

Namibia gained its independence in 1990. SWAPO have since become the dominant political party of Namibia.

## Notable members

- Sam Nujoma
- Hifikepunye Pohamba
- Hage Geingob
- Henock Kankoshi
- Adolf Hitler Uunona
- Jacob Kuhangua
- Jafet Penda Ya Ndakolo
- Theo-Ben Gurirab
- Louis Nelengani
- Nahas Angula
- Lucas Nepela

### Presidential elections

|Election|Party candidate|Votes|%|Result||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1994|rowspan=2|Sam Nujoma|370,452|76.34%|**Elected**|
|1999|414,096|76.82%|**Elected**|||
|2004|rowspan=2|Hifikepunye Pohamba|625,605|76.45%|**Elected**|
|2009|611,241|75.25%|**Elected**|||
|2014|rowspan=2|Hage Geingob|772,528|86.73%|**Elected**|
|2019|464,703|56.3%|**Elected**|||

### National Assembly elections

|Election|Party leader|Votes|%|Seats|+/–|Position|Result||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1989|rowspan=4|Sam Nujoma|384,567|57.33%||41|1st||
|1994|370,452|76.34**%**||12|1st||||
|1999|414,096|76.82**%**||2|1st||||
|2004|625,605|76.44**%**|||1st||||
|2009|rowspan=2|Hifikepunye Pohamba|611,241|75.25**%**||1|1st||
|2014|785,671|86.73%||23|1st||||
|2019|Hage Geingob|536,861|65.45%||14|1st|||

### National Council elections

|Election|Seats|+/–|Position|Result|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1992||19|1st||
|1998||2|1st||
|2004||3|1st||
|2010|||1st||
|2015||16|1st||
|2020||12|1st||

## Infobox (political party)

- **name**: South West Africa People’s Organisation
- **leader**: Hage Geingob
- **leader2 title**: Vice President
- **leader2 name**: Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah
- **secretary general**: Sophia Shaningwa
- **leader4 title**: Vice Secretary-General
- **leader4 name**: Nangolo Mbumba
- **leader5 title**: Executive Director
- **leader5 name**: Austin Samupwa
- **ideology**: ***Since 2017:***
Socialism with Namibian characteristics
***Independence until 2017:***
Social democracy
Statism
***Pre-independence:***
Socialism
Marxism–Leninism
- **headquarters**: Erf 2464
Hans-Dietrich Genscher Street
Katutura
Windhoek
Khomas Region
- **international**: Socialist International
- **country**: Namibia
- **abbreviation**: SWAPO
- **founders**: Andimba Toivo ya Toivo
Sam Nujoma
Jacob Kuhangua
Louis Nelengani
Lucas Nepela
- **predecessor**: Ovamboland People's Organization
- **newspaper**: _Namibia Today_
- **think tank**: SWAPO Think Tank
- **youth wing**: SWAPO Party Youth League
- **womens wing**: SWAPO Women's Council
- **wing2 title**: Elder's wing
- **wing2**: SWAPO Elder’s Council
- **wing3 title**: Paramilitary wing
- **wing3**: People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN)
- **position**: Left-wing politics, Left-wing
- **affiliation1 title**: African affiliation
- **affiliation1**: Former Liberation Movements of Southern Africa
- **seats1 title**: Seats in the National Assembly (Namibia), National Assembly
- **seats2 title**: Seats in the National Council (Namibia), National Council
- **seats3 title**: Regional Councillors
- **seats4 title**: Local Councillors
- **seats5 title**: Pan-African Parliament
- **flag**: