Nurse of the nation

Penehupifo Pohamba remembered for championing HIV-AIDS programmes
and shelters for expecting mothers

Former first lady Penehupifo Pohamba, who died on Saturday, will be remembered as a nurse and midwife who used her position to advocate for better maternal and child healthcare and a stronger response to HIV-AIDS.

Affectionately known as ‘Mee Pohamba’, or ‘Penny’, Penehupifo was a midwife, a liberation-era health worker and a champion for women and children whose public life extended well beyond her role as first lady.

She died in a Windhoek hospital at the age of 78 on Saturday.

She is survived by her husband, Hifikepunye, five children and grandchildren. Born at Okatale in the Ohangwena region, she attended school at Odibo’s St Mary Mission School.

Penehupifo went into exile in 1976, travelling through Angola to Zambia before being sent to Tanzania for medical training.

She later spent three years in Jamaica studying midwifery before returning to Angola to provide medical care to Namibians in exile.

Penehupifo married Hifikepunye in 1983, 22 years before he became Namibia’s second president.

Following her husband’s retirement in March 2015, the two retired at Okanghudi village where Hifikepunye is also the headman.

Penehupifo continued with her community service lending a helping hand to the needy.

Former minister of health and social services Richard Kamwi, who held the portfolio throughout the Pohamba administration, describes her as a pillar of strength and a nurse who loved her work.

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah yesterday extended her condolences to former president Pohamba and his family.

“It is with profound sadness that, on behalf of president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and the Republic of Namibia, I formally announce the passing of our former first lady, her excellency madam Penehupifo Pohamba, on 17 October 2026,” minister of presidential affairs Charles Mubita announced yesterday.

Nandi-Ndaitwah described the former first lady’s death as a painful loss for the family and a moment of sadness for the nation.

Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa yesterday said the news came as a shock.
“Nothing could have prepared us for such tragic news,” she said.

Former ambassador Tuliameni Kalomoh, who grew up with Penehupifo and was at school with her at Odibo, spoke to the Namibia Press Agency yesterday.

“We are all here to console the Pohamba family. Meme Penehupifo Pohamba has not been well for some time, but we never expected her to depart so soon. Tate Pohamba has not been well for longer than his wife, and now she has departed.

We are here to extend our solidarity during this moment of sorrow,” he said.

SAVING LIVES

Former prime minister Nahas Angula, who served under Hifikepunye from 2005 to 2012, says Penehupifo was a healthcare worker during the liberation struggle and in independent Namibia, helping patients recover and saving lives.

“At one time she was a nurse at Robert Mugabe Clinic in Windhoek.

She helped people restore their health and saved lives in that capacity,” he said yesterday.

Penehupifo was Namibia’s first lady from 2005 to 2015.
“The nation was on their shoulders for 10 years.

So we celebrate her contribution. We know that her passing means a loss to Namibia and to the family and to our community, but we also have to recognise her contribution to the welfare of this nation,” Angula said.

SHELTERS FOR MOTHERS

Kamwi yesterday recalled that when he became health minister, Namibia was facing an HIV-AIDS epidemic and needed a strong response.

He said he was advised to appoint the first lady to become a champion in this fight.

He said that was how Penehupifo became the patron of the Organisation for the Empowerment of Widows/Widowers and Orphans of HIV-AIDS in Namibia (Oewona) in November 2005.

The Namibian in 2006 reported that more than 200 000 Namibians were living with HIV and the country was caring for more than 75 000 orphans.

Oewona was set up to give orphans care, food and clothing, and to support people who faced discrimination because of their HIV status.

Kamwi then proposed that Penehupifo also support maternal and child health programmes because of her nursing background and position as first lady.

“At the time, she was serving as a nurse at Robert Mugabe Clinic. I approached her and asked her to play that role given the office which she occupied. She gladly accepted,” he said.

He said Hifikepunye, however, was uneasy at first.

“In the end, when I explained the essence of why she would play that role, the president accepted.

She was appointed as one of my advisers in that area.

We came up with the idea of having shelters close to district hospitals primarily for expecting women to stay there. That strategy worked so well,” Kamwi said.

He said when government funding was not available, Penehupifo helped raise money for the shelters through the private sector.

“Having the first lady in that programme worked so well that we built waiting shelters for almost all the major district hospitals,” he said.

Kamwi said they also worked together at Oewona, which supported people affected by the HIV-AIDS epidemic.

“She was at the forefront of introducing that programme, and it worked so well that it became the programme for the African Union,” he said.

CABINET BACKING

Kamwi said Penehupifo helped him secure support for the Ministry of Health and Social Services at Cabinet level.

“I had the backing of the president all the way . . . She was an ambassador of the health ministry,” he said.
“We built more clinics than those built combined by my predecessors.

That, frankly speaking, came from the support we had from the first lady. We had to establish more training facilities for nurses, including enrolled nursing and registered nurses. I cherished that relationship,” Kamwi said.

The former minister remembers that Penehupifo consulted him when the developers of a planned private hospital in Windhoek approached her about naming it after her.

He said he advised the former first lady to accept the honour, because the hospital would carry her name after her death. Lady Pohamba Private Hospital opened in January 2016.

“I said to her ‘Meekulu, this would be an honour to you, even when you are no more, the Lady Pohamba remains’,” he said.

SILENT GIANT

A daughter of a teacher, Penehupifo started her nursing career at Odibo before she went into exile.

In a 2010 interview with Kenya’s The Standard newspaper, she said: “I believe my rightful role as the first lady is to be on the sidelines supporting him. But this is not to say I’m silent on all matters.”

Landless People’s Movement leader Bernadus Swartbooi yesterday described Penehupifo as a quiet but important figure whose patriotism and service have left a lasting impression.

“Not all giants are loud. Not all giants want to be heard,” he said.

Swartbooi remembers her for her love, patriotism and motherly presence.

“What a mother. What a wife. What a human. What a servant. What a first lady of Namibia,” he said.

TRUSTED MENTOR

In a statement on Sunday, former first lady Monica Geingos described Penehupifo as a trusted mentor who offered guidance during her own tenure as first lady.

She commended her contributions to maternal and child health, HIV-AIDS awareness, cancer prevention and women’s empowerment.

“She became one of the people I trusted most, a sage guide I could turn to when the road was uncertain and the burdens were heavy,” Geingos said.

She said that her late husband, Hage Geingob, also trusted Penehupifo and would encourage her [Geingos] to seek Penehupifo’s advice whenever she faced challenges.

Geingos said Penehupifo’s guidance extended beyond personal conversations, as she also served on the First Lady’s Advisory Council, established in November 2016 to advise her office on social issues.

Former minister of gender equality and child welfare Doreen Sioka yesterday said: “I have never met a woman as down to earth as her. She advised us, and you could see the results of her hard work.

Photo: The Namibian

‘DOING WHAT SHE LOVES’

… Former first lady Penehupifo Pohamba, a nurse by profession, administers polio drops during a national vaccination campaign in Windhoek in 2006.

For example, Lady Pohamba Private Hospital was named after her because of her hard work.”

Lady Pohamba Private Hospital yesterday paid tribute to the former first lady on social media.

“A dedicated professional nurse and midwife, she devoted her life to serving others, championing maternal and child health, strengthening community welfare, and advocating for those affected by HIV-AIDS,” the hospital says.

In her interview with The Standard, Penehupifo spoke about the hardships she had experienced in life.

“Despite the tragedies and the blows life has dealt me, I was able to gradually rise up from the ashes,” she said.

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