Zephania Kameeta

Religious work

Kameeta studied at the Paulinum Seminary at Otjimbingwe from 1968 to 1971. He was ordained as a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1972, and taught at the Paulinum Seminary from 1973, serving as its principal 1976-77.

Kameeta served as a parish minister in Lüderitz from 1978 to 1981. He was elected vice-president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1982 and deputy bishop in 1985. Between 2002 and 2013 Kameeta was bishop of the ELCRN. From 2003 to 2010 he also served as the Lutheran World Federation's Vice-President for the Africa region.

Kameeta is an exponent of liberation theology. He is best known for his rendition of Psalm 23 which he wrote in 1973:

This poem was later published in his Why, O Lord?: Psalms and Sermons from Namibia (Augsburg Fortress, 1986) and included in Pocket Prayers for Peace and Justice (Church House Publishing, 2004).

Political work

In 1975, Kameeta founded the Namibia National Convention, a group founded to promote Black Consciousness. He was arrested by the South African authorities for protesting against the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference.

Kameeta served as a member of the Central Committee of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) from 1977 to 2002. When Namibia became independent in 1990 he was elected as a SWAPO member of the National Assembly, becoming its first Deputy Speaker. In 1997 he was elected to SWAPO's Politburo where he remained until 2002.

Kameeta was one of the pioneers of the Basic Income Grant Coalition. In 2015, he was appointed Minister for Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare.

Recognition

On Heroes' Day 2014 he was conferred the Most Brilliant Order of the Sun, First Class.