President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has appointed Ambassador Penda Naanda as Namibia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, with immediate effect.
He replaces Ambassador Neville Gertze, who has been reassigned as Executive Director in the Private Office of the President.
Ambassador Naanda has been serving as Executive Director in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation since 2021. The ministry was recently renamed the Ministry of International Relations and Trade.
He previously represented Namibia as Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva between 2018 and 2020.
His diplomatic career also includes service as First Secretary Economic at the Namibian High Commission in Pretoria, First Secretary at the Namibian Mission in Vienna, and Deputy Permanent Representative of Namibia to the United Nations in New York.
The President expressed confidence in Ambassador Naanda’s appointment, saying she trusted his experience would help advance Namibia’s diplomatic agenda at the United Nations and extended her best wishes as he assumes his new role.
