Members of the National Assembly have joined the rest of the country in mourning Ombara Otjitambi of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, Advocate Vekuii Rukoro, who died on 18 June aged 66 after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Professor Peter Katjavivi, in a statement Tuesday expressed the NA’s grief over the passing of Rukoro, describing him as a veteran politician and a leading legal mind, who also served in the business sector.

He said the nation is not only mourning “this great son of the Namibian nation, but also celebrates his gallantry and immense contribution to his motherland. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Dinah, his children, grandchildren and the entire family and Ovaherero community during this time of bereavement. The nation mourns with you and celebrates the extraordinary life of Advocate Rukoro, may his soul rest in eternal peace”.

Katjavivi said the parliamentarians remember Rukoro as one of the members of the Constituent Assembly from 1989 to 1990, as well as a member of the National Assembly from 1990 to 2000. He was a member of the Constitutional Committee of the Constituent Assembly that was tasked with writing the Namibian Constitution which came into force on 21 March 1990 and hailed as one of the most inclusive and progressive in the world.

Rukoro served as Namibia’s first Deputy Minister of Justice and later Attorney General between 1990 and 2000.

After the passing of former Ombara Otjitambi of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, Kuaima Riruako in 2014, Rukoro took over the position he held until his passing.

In 2000, Rukoro served as Managing Director of Sanlam Namibia and chairperson of Air Namibia. He also served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First National Bank from 2006 to 2013 and thereafter as CEO of the Meat Corporation of Namibia.

Source: Namibia Press Agency