Shekutaamba Nambala

Namibian Reverend Dr. Shekutaamba Väinö ya Väinö Nambala is a former bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Namibia (ELCIN).

Namibian Reverend Dr. Shekutaamba Väinö ya Väinö Nambala is a former bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Namibia (ELCIN).

Dr Shekutaamba Nambala was born in a peasant family in 05.08.1952 at Onewawa village which is in the Omuntele constituency in Oshikoto region, Namibia. He is from matriarchal background by traditional lineage. His father belonged to the cattle clan (Omukuuta) and was headman of Onewawa village, while his mother belonged to the snake clan (Omukuusinda). Shekutaamba is the second last born of the family of 17 children, 9 boys and 8 girls. Shekutaamba attended his first school at the age of 10 years at Ondjamba Primary School in 1962. Thereafter he attended several schools at Omuntele, Onayena Boys' School, Ongwediva and Oshigambo High Schools. In 1980 he completed a Diploma in Theology at the Lutheran Theological College at Umpumulo in Natal, South Africa. In 1983 Shekutaamba married a school teacher Menette Ndeyapo yaMateus Ngula yaNuulimba. They have three sons. In 1983 he received a Certificate in Stewardship and Mission, followed in 1984 by a Certificate in Car Maintenance and Repairs from the Engineering College of South Africa (ECOSA) through correspondence. From 1985 he studied in the USA at the Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, St Paul, from which he received the MA (1986), MTh. (1987) and ThD. (1990) degrees. In 1994 he completed the BA Honours degree from the University of Namibia. He majored in Systematic Theology and Ethics, Philosophy and History, with special emphasis on Namibia. The topic of his doctoral thesis was 'Church and State in Namibia 1806-1989'. In 1974 Shekutaamba was a teacher at the Omuntele Primary School. After receiving his Diploma in Theology in 1980 he started a ministry as a hospital chaplain vicar for three months at the Onandjokwe Hospital, at Oniipa, close to Ondangwa. Then he was ordained as pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) and served at Onayena Parish for the years 1981-1984 and helped out at Omuntele Parish for ten months in 1981, while the local pastor was in detention during the liberation war. After his return from the USA he took various assignments at the central ELCIN church offices. He was secretary to the Bishop (1990-1992), history researcher (1992-1993), development secretary (1994-1997) and finance and development secretary (1997-2011). He was consecrated Bishop of the Eastern Diocese and Presiding Bishop of the ELCIN in at Ongwediva (2011-2021). In 2021 Dr Shekutaamba W Nambala retired.