John Mutwa

Lieutenant General John Sinvula Mutwa is a retired Namibian military officer who's last appointment was as Chief of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF). He was appointed the Commander of the Namibian Army in 2011, and NDF Chief on 31 December 2013. Mutwa retired on 31 March 2020.

John Sinvula Mutwa
Born (1960-09-23) 23 September 1960
Mahundu, Namibia
(then South-West Africa, South Africa)
Allegiance Namibia
Service/branchNamibian Army
Years of service1976-2020
RankLieutenant General
Commands held
  • Chief of Staff: Logistics.
  • Army Commander.
  • Chief of Defence Force.[1]
Awards
  • Excellent Order of the Eagle, First Class

Career

PLAN

Mutwa's military career began in 1975 when he joined the Peoples Liberational Army of Namibia in Zambia. In 1976 he under went military training in Kongwa, Tanzania and completed the officer cadet course. In 1978 he then completed the Intelligence and Counter Intelligence Course in the former Yugoslavia[2].. Between 1979 to 1980 he was the Regional Staff Officer for Administration on the Eastern Front, while between 1980 to 1989 he was the regional Chief of Reconnaissance at the eastern and Northern Fronts.

NDF

In 1990 he joined the Namibian Defence Force as a pioneer and was given the rank of lieutenant Colonel and appointed as assistant director: Military Intelligence. In 1994 he was reassigned as the Commanding officer of the Army's Logistics Support Battalion at the Army Grootfontein with the same rank. In 1996 he was promoted to Colonel and appointed as Army Chief of Staff in the office of the Army Commander. In 1998 he was then redeployed as the Army Chief of Staff: Personnel and Logistics, in this position he was then deployed to Operation Atlantic, Namibia's contribution to the SADC Allied forces to the DRC during the Second Congo War. While deployed in DRC he was appointed as the Chief Of Staff of the SADC Allied Forces between 1999 and 2000 and seconded as a commissioner on the Joint Military Commission on DRC in 2000, Namibia's Operation Atlantic ended in 2002 with all troops deployed back to Namibia. In 2004 he was appointed as the Defence Attache to Angola. In 2006 he was promoted to Brigadier General and appointed as the Chief of staff Logitics as Defence HQ. Mutwa was appointed Commander of the Army in April 2011. At this occasion, he was promoted from brigadier general to Major General. He served in that position until 31 December 2013, when he took over the position as NDF Chief from Lieutenant General Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah.[3]

Qualifications

1981 - 1982 Political Science and Leadership Course - USSR.

1993 - 1994 Senior Command and Staff Course- United States.

1995 Military Logistics Officers Course - UK.

1996 Advanced Military Law Course at the UNAM.

1997 Defence Executive Management Course joint programme between the University of Witwatersrand & UNAM.

1998 - 1999 National Security Strategy Course- South Africa.

Honours and Decorations
  • Namibian Army Pioneer Medal
  • Mandume Ya Ndemufayo Operation Medal
  • NDF Service Medal (10 years of service)
  • Campaign Medal (DRC Operation)
  • NDF Commendation Medal
Military offices
Preceded by
Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah		 Chief of Defence Force
31 December 2013  – 31 March 2020		 Succeeded by
Martin Pinehas
Preceded by
Peter Nambundunga		 Commander Namibian Army
2011 – 2013		 Succeeded by
Tomas Hamunyela
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References
  1. http://www.mod.gov.na/pdfs/mutwa%20profile.pdf
  2. http://www.mod.gov.na/cdf
  3. Muraranganda, Elvis (3 January 2014). "'Top Three' absent at Mutwa's NDF inauguration". Namibian Sun. p. 1.
  4. "Namibians honoured by President". New Era. 28 August 2014.


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