Zephania Kameeta

Kameeta at the swearing-in of President Hage Geingob in March 2015

Zephania Kameeta (born August 7, 1945 in Otjimbingwe ) is a Namibian politician and liberation theologian . He was bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) from January 20, 2002 to November 3, 2013 .

From March 2015 to March 2020, Kameeta was Minister for Poverty Reduction and Social Welfare .

Life

After studying theology at the Paulinum Lutheran Seminary in his hometown of Otjimbingue , Kameeta was ordained a pastor in 1971 . From 1972 to 1990 he was a member of the church leadership of the ELCRN, of which he was deputy bishop between 1982 and 1989. From 1978 to 1981 he was a pastor in Lüderitz .

From 1980 to 1990, Kameeta was a member of the Commission for the Anti-Racism Program of the World Council of Churches .

From 1977 to 2002 Kameeta was a member of the Central Committee of SWAPO , which has been the government in Namibia since 1990. From 1990 to 2000 Kameeta was Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Namibia. After his resignation, he was a minister in the Lutheran congregation Maltahoehe in southern Namibia, where he not only with poverty and hunger, but also with the AIDS - a pandemic has been facing. Numerous families lose the opportunity to earn a living due to AIDS. Zephania Kameeta is an advocate of an unconditional basic income .

The Synod of the ELCRN elected Zephania Kameeta on August 30, 2001 at its meeting in Tsumeb with 91 of the 124 votes cast in the first ballot to succeed Bishop Petrus Diergaardt .

Kameeta has albinism .

family

Zephania Kameeta is married and has six grown children.

Awards

• 1983: Honorary Doctorate from Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque , Iowa .
• 2004: Honorary doctorate from the Wuppertal Church University .
• 2005: Peter Beier Prize of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (together with Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul ).

Quotes

• It is my goal that every single community is committed to caring for the sick and HIV / AIDS orphans in their community. I see this as one of my greatest responsibilities during my time as a bishop. Zephania Kameeta in an interview with Erika von Wietersheim, correspondent for Lutheran World Information in Windhoek, 2003
• Faith means treading unknown paths that lead to strange places. This is what God has done to me: he leads me through my time in prison, through extreme humiliations, in degrading travel restrictions inside and outside the country, up to my time in parliament, where I held the second highest office, and then in a remote, poor little community in Maltahöhe. Zephania Kameeta at the regional synod of the Ev. Church in the Rhineland on January 12, 2006

Fonts (selection)

• Why, O Lord? Psalms and Sermons from Namibia . World Council of Churches, Geneva 1986, ISBN 2-8254-0852-2 .
• In the wind of liberation. Cross-border commuter between church and politics. Speeches, meditations, texts . Edited by Jörg Baumgarten. Peter Hammer Verlag, Wuppertal 2004, ISBN 3-7795-0006-X .

literature

• Paul John Isaak: The theology of Zephania Kameeta . In: The influences of missionary work in Namibia. A theological commentary . Macmillan Namibia, Windhoek 2007, ISBN 978-99916-0-870-9 , p. 89 ff.

Web links

• BIG Coalition Namibia with the world's first basic income pilot project in Namibia
• Church and State by Kameeta and Haarmann

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Egoism divides the nation. Allgemeine Zeitung , September 2, 2013, p. 2.
2. ↑ Press release of the Lutheran World Federation : Respected Lutheran Leader Takes Seat in Namibian Cabinet , March 23, 2015, accessed on July 11, 2017.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Press release of the Lutheran World Federation: Bishop Kameeta Appointed to Namibian Presidential Council , February 3, 2015, accessed on July 11, 2017 (English).
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Biography on the website of the Namibian Parliament, accessed on July 10, 2017 (English).
5. ↑ Dialika Krahe: In the village of the future. In: DER SPIEGEL 33/2009, August 10, 2009, accessed on July 10, 2017.