“Real Peace, Real Happiness, Real Freedom”

Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi was born into a churchgoing family in Grootfontein. However, her involvement in the Namibian independence movement as a young adult pulled her away from religion. In her late 20s, Inge received a scholarship to study law in London. She moved in with Madeline, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Martinique. Impressed by how kind and patient Madeline was, Inge invited herself to church to learn more. After Madeline left on a mission, Inge noticed that there was something—a special feeling—missing from her home. She sought out the missionaries and asked them to keep coming to teach her. On July 12, 1992, Inge was baptized.

Not long after, Inge suffered what she referred to as the “lowest point of [her] life.” She felt alone in a foreign country, she was running out of money, and her infant daughter, Michelle, was very sick. One night, after crying herself to sleep, she heard the Lord speak to her, quoting John 14:27: “My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” This “undeniable and distinctive” experience lifted her burdens from her shoulders. Her memory of that reassurance from the Lord “kept [her] going for a long time.”

After completing law school, Inge returned to Namibia in 1995, where her life has been one of service to her country and to her fellow Saints. She first took a job with the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy and was then made the Director of Mines. In 1999 she was appointed managing director and CEO of Namdeb, a diamond mining company and Namibia’s largest corporation, by Namibia’s president, Sam Nujoma. Inge hesitated to accept the position, feeling that it was beyond her capabilities, but President Nujoma insisted. Inge served faithfully in that position for the next 15 years. She left Namdeb in 2015 to serve as Private Sector Interface and Constitutional Affairs Advisor to Hage Geingob, who had just been elected president of Namibia.

Throughout this time, Inge also served faithfully in many Church callings, including Relief Society president, Sunday School teacher, institute teacher, and a member of the public affairs committee for Namibia. Sharing her testimony, Inge said, “Religion is for people who are looking for real peace, real happiness, and real freedom, and we are privileged to have it here in our lives.”