Penehupifo Pohamba: key obituary facts
Is Penehupifo Pohamba dead? Yes. Penehupifo Pohamba died on October 17, 2026, at age 78.
Cause of death: Penehupifo Pohamba's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Penehupifo Pohamba known for?
She was a Namibian First Lady.
More about Penehupifo Pohamba
Born: 16 June 1948.
Place of birth: Ohangwena Region.
Gender: female.
Occupation: midwife, nurse, politician.
Nationality: Namibia.
Spouse: Hifikepunye Pohamba.
Penehupifo Pohamba, a Namibian nurse, politician and former first lady, died on October 17, 2026, aged 78.
She was the second First Lady of Namibia during the presidency of her husband, Hifikepunye Pohamba, from 2005 to 2015. Born in Okatale in Ohangwena Region, in what was then South West Africa, she attended primary and secondary school at Odibo, where Jeremiah Nambinga and Joel Kaapanda were among her schoolmates.
She later taught at St. George’s Diocesan School in Windhoek and was a member of SWAPO. In 1976, she left Namibia via Angola and went to Zambia. After several months there, she was sent to Tanzania for medical training. She also received military training and worked in camps housing Namibian refugees. Her path through education, health care and political organizing took place across several countries, from her schooling and teaching in Namibia to training and refugee-camp work in Tanzania. Pohamba married Malakias Shiluwa at St. Mary’s Odibo in 1969, and they had a son, Waldheim, born in 1971. Her later role as first lady accompanied her husband’s decade as president, from 2005 through 2015.