Sacky Shanghala

Sakeus Edward Twelityaamena "Sacky" Shanghala (born 13 June 1977) is a Namibian lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Justice from 8 February 2018 until November 2019 when he was forced to resign in the wake of the Fishrot scandal. He previously also served as Attorney General of Namibia from 2015 to 2018. Shanghala is a former chairperson of the Law Reform and Development Commission which he chaired between 2010 and 2015.

Sacky Shanghala
Minister of Justice
In office
28 February 2018 – 13 November 2019
Preceded byAlbert Kawana
Succeeded byYvonne Dausab
Attorney General of Namibia
In office
21 March 2015 – 28 February 2018
Preceded byAlbert Kawana
Succeeded byAlbert Kawana
Chairperson of the Law Reform and Development Commission
In office
9 November 2010 – 21 March 2015
Preceded byUtoni Nujoma
Succeeded byYvonne Dausab
Personal details
Born
Sakeus Edward Twelityaamena Shanghala

(1977-06-13) 13 June 1977
Outapi, Oshikoto Region
NationalityNamibian
Political partySWAPO
ResidenceWindhoek
Alma materUniversity of Namibia
OccupationLawyer
NicknameSacky

Early life and education

Shanghala was born on 13 June 1977 in Outapi in former Ovamboland. He is the son of retired ELCIN bishop Josephat Shanghala. His mother Ndamona was a nurse at Oshakati State Hospital; She died in the 1988 Oshakati bomb blast.[1] Before completing his high school education at the Oshigambo High School, he got his basic education at International Primary School in Ongwediva. He studied at University of Namibia, where he graduated with B Juris and LLB degrees in 1998 and 2000 respectively.[2]

Political career

Shanghala is a member of the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) party. In 1997 while on an internship at the Namibia Non-Governmental Organisation Forum (Nangof), Shanghala met Hage Geingob, then Prime Minister of Namibia. Geingob hired him as special assistant shortly thereafter. He served in that position until late 2001.[1] He then worked as the special advisor to the Attorney General. In 2010, he was appointed the chairperson of the Law Reform and Development Commission.[2]

He became a member of Parliament in 2015[3] and was appointed Attorney General in the same year.[4][1] In a cabinet reshuffle in February 2018, Shanghala became Minister of Justice.[5]

In 2019, he placed 53rd on the SWAPO party list of parliamentary candidates, which would have guaranteed his seat in parliament because SWAPO ended up winning 63 seats in the 2019 election[6]

Business career

In 2004 Shanghala and two partners trading as Hanganeni Investment Holdings won a government contract to supply fuel to National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR), Namibia's national oil company. The Namibian estimated that the deal got them 100 million N$ in private wealth. Until at least 2007, Shanghala was working as a lawyer for the Namibian government despite being on its payroll through his position in the Ministry of Justice.[1]

After being appointed Attorney General, Shanghala "hit the ground running, and got busy working on reforming laws – mostly for his benefit."[1]

Fishrot scandal
Main article: Fishrot Files

In November 2019 he was forced to resign his ministerial post over allegations that he took bribes in exchange for providing fishing quotas to the Icelandic fishing company Samherji,[7][8] later being removed from the National Assembly and the Swapo Party list.[9] Part of The Fishrot Six, he and former fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau were subsequently arrested on these charges.[10] In 2021, Shanghala was removed from the SWAPO party politburo, one of the party's top decision-making structures.[11]

References
  1. Mongudhi, Tileni (19 November 2021). "Fishrot Legal Kingpin...How the son of a bishop was trapped by money and power". The Namibian. p. 1.
  2. Menges, Werner (24 November 2010). "Shanghala becomes law reform chief". The Namibian.
  3. "Shanghala, Sakeus Edward Twelityaamena (RESIGNED)". Parliament of the Republic of Namibia. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  4. "Your MP: Sakeus Edward Twelityaamena Shanghala (Swapo party)". New Era. 13 June 2016.
  5. Matthys, Donald (8 February 2018). "President reshuffles Cabinet—Vice President relieved of duties". Namibia Economist.
  6. "Swapo's 2019 electoral college outcome". The Namibian. September 13, 2019. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  7. Reuters (2019-11-13). "Two Namibian Ministers Resign Over Bribery Scandal Involving Icelandic Fishing Firm". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-13. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. Iileka, Sakeus (14 November 2019). "Disgraced ministers resign". The Namibian. p. 1.
  9. Iileka, Sakeus (3 December 2019). "Shanghala, Esau removed from parliament list". The Namibian. p. 1.
  10. "Namibia arrests former justice minister in fishing scandal". Reuters. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
  11. Tjitemisa, Kuzeeko (12 April 2021). "Swapo boots Esau, Shanghala from top structures". New Era. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
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