THE AUTHOR

Dierks_Photo.jpg (26805 bytes)Klaus Dierks, PhD, is a Namibian citizen. He was born on 19 February 1936 in Berlin-Dahlem in Germany. He passed away on 17 March 2005 in Windhoek, Namibia.

He obtained his schooling in Zeuthen/Mark, Schulpforta, Eichwalde (near Berlin) and Berlin-Schöneberg. He studied Civil Engineering and History at Berlin Technical University in Germany (Humanistic degree in history: 1962; Master Degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in civil engineering: 1965 and the doctorate in civil engineering (Dr.-Ing.: summa cum laude: 1992). He has always been keenly interested in history and archaeology and has visited nearly all the major archaeological sites in the world. As a Roads Engineer (for more than 30 years) in the Namibian Department of Transport he gained a thorough knowledge of all parts of Namibia, and especially of its roads network (since the early 1960s). While carrying out field research for his doctoral thesis on the development of a roads system for an independent Namibia, he discovered and later published a study on the ancient ruins of the settlement of ||Khauxa!nas. He has also published several studies on engineering issues in Namibia, especially pertaining to the country’s railways, roads and telecommunications (nearly 40 publications so far). Dierks joined the SWAPO Party in 1982. Due to his commitment to Namibia’s struggle for independence, and due to the unique transport problems that emanated from South Africa’s efforts to create a "noose or lifeline" transport situation in Namibia, he was forced by the colonial interim government of 1985-1989 to resign after 22 years of service in the Department of Transport. Dierks subsequently established his own consulting engineering firm, Namibia Consult Incorporated, which specialised in developing "Namibia Appropriate Technologies", this involving a new approach to engineering that better serves the interests of Namibians in the post-colonial era. When Namibia gained its independence in March 1990, Dierks was appointed Deputy Minister for Works, Transport and Communication in the first independent Government of the Republic of Namibia. He served as a member of the first independent Parliament, and was re-elected to the second Parliament in 1994 (to serve until 21 March 2000). He was an elected member of the SWAPO Central Committee until May 1997. Following elections for the second government in 1995 he was re-appointed Deputy Minister for Works, Transport and Communication. Since March 1999 he was the Deputy Minister for Mines and Energy. In October 1999 he has not availed himself to stand again for the general elections for the National Assembly in November 1999. He retired after ten years as a Namibian Government Minister and Member of Parliament on 21 March 2000. Since March 2000 the Namibian Cabinet appointed him as the Chairman of the Namibian Electricity Board (ECB), the current regulator of the electricity sector (minimising of electricity costs and utmost promotion of renewable energies) and the future regulator of the energy sector in Namibia. Since April, 15th 2002 he was appointed by the Cabinet of the Government of Namibia as a member of the Board of Directors of TransNamib Holdings Ltd. The Board members elected him unanimously as Chairman of the Namibian Railway Company. In 2002/2003 he had the task to turn the loss making company around and to make it an asset for the Namibian nation. This ambitious objective was achieved at the end of 2003. In the year 2004 it can be reported with pride that TransNamib Holdings Limited has been changed to a highly profitable railway company, without dismissing one  employee to cut costs and with a huge investment programme in oder to "transport Namibia's success". During October 2002 Dierks was elected as Chairman of the Research Committee for the History of the Anticolonial Resistance and Liberation Struggle (AACRLS). The Cabinet appointed Dierks as Director of the Namibia Road Fund Administration with effect from June, 13th 2003. 

He was married to Karen von Bremen (since August, 23th 1962), has four children (Alexander, b. 18.03.1966 in Windhoek; Katrin, b. 23.08.1967 in Otjiwarongo; Susanne, b. 10.02.1970 in Otjiwarongo and Annette, b. 17.08.1978 in Windhoek) and six grand children.

His hobbies were: Mountaineering, Namibia-politics, Namibian history (especially the discovery of the oldest systematic settlement in Namibia: ||Khauxa!nas), Piano playing, Photography, Mountaineering and trekking expeditions in the Himalayas, Karakoram and South American Andes (more than twenty since 1959) and Philately.

Dr Klaus Dierks
E-mail: info@klausdierks.com