Immanuel Ngatjizeko

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Immanuel Ngatjizeko (30 May 1952 – 5 March 2022) was a Namibian politician from the SWAPO party. He was born in Otjohorongo near Omaruru and studied at Augustineum Secondary School in Windhoek. He earned a Diploma in Commerce and Administration from the University of Fort Hare in South Africa in 1976. He worked for the Council of Churches in Namibia until 1994, then held key SWAPO roles, including Managing Director of Zebra Holdings and Secretary for Finance. He was active as a SWAPO organizer from 1978 and joined the party’s Central Committee in 1991 and its Politburo in 2007.

Ngatjizeko was a member of Parliament from 2000 and joined the Cabinet in 2003 as Director-General of the National Planning Commission. He also served as Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy from 2000 to 2005. During his ministerial career, he held several offices:
- Minister of Trade and Industry (2005–2008)
- Minister of Labour and Social Welfare (2008–2012)
- Minister of Safety and Security (2012–2015)
- Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development (2015–2018)

In February 2018, he briefly became Minister of Presidential Affairs before resigning due to health issues and retiring from politics. Ngatjizeko was awarded the Most Brilliant Order of the Sun, Second Class, on Heroes’ Day in 2014. He died on 5 March 2022 at the age of 69. He lived in Windhoek, Namibia, and was an accountant by profession.