FACTBOX-Who is Namibia's Hifikepunye Pohamba?

Nov 27 (Reuters) - Namibia President Hifikepunye Pohamba is expected to remain in office after this week's presidential and national assembly elections, but will face a strong challenge from a new official opposition.



Here are a few facts on Pohamba: * Pohamba hails from the Owambo people who live in the densely populated north near the Angolan border that formed the base of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) support during country's freedom struggle prior to independence in 1990.

* Pohamba became SWAPO president in late 2007 from Nujoma who had led the party for the previous 47 years.



* LIFE DETAILS:

-- Born on Aug. 18, 1935 in Okanghudi in northern Owambo, Namibia, he was educated by missionaries and then worked in the Tsumeb copper mine from 1956 to 1960.

-- He was a founder member of the ruling SWAPO party in 1960 and a close confidante of first Namibian president Sam Nujoma.

-- He left his job in the mine to work as a full-time organizer for the group. In June 1961 he was arrested on charges of political agitation. He was subsequently convicted by a local court in Ohangwena and publicly flogged by the South African-backed authority.

-- Pohamba was jailed or deported twice when returning to Namibia in the 1960s. He studied politics in the Soviet Union from 1981 to 1982 before being transferred to SWAPO headquarters in Luanda, Angola.

-- He remained there until 1989, when the SWAPO leadership returned to South West Africa, which by this point had been officially renamed Namibia.

-- Pohamba took over as Namibia's second president in March 2005. ((For main story double click [ID:nGEE5AP0UN])) Sources: Reuters/britannica.com/www.whoswhosa.co.za/ (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/ ) (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit) ((david.cutler@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7968; Reuters Messaging: david.cutler.reuters.com@reuters.net))