Martin Shalli

Lieutenant General Martin Shalli is a former Namibian diplomat and military commander. In 2005, he was appointed as Namibia's High Commissioner to Zambia by President Sam Nujoma, but he was recalled in October 2006 by Nujoma's successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, and appointed as Chief of the Namibia Defence Force (NDF). He replaced controversial NDF commander Solomon Huwala, and he was replaced as High Commissioner to Zambia by regional councillor Solomon Witbooi.

Martin Shalli
Born	(1954-01-01) 1 January 1954 (age 70) Namibia (then South-West Africa, South Africa)
Allegiance	Namibia
Service / branch	People's Liberation Army of Namibia Namibian Army
Years of service	1971–2012
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Chief Of Defence Force (2006-2011) Namibian Army (2000-2005) Operations (1990-1995)
Battles / wars	South African Border War Second Congo War

In July 2009, Shalli was suspended by President Pohamba due to "serious allegations of irregularities".^[1] Without the alleged irregularities being proven, refuted, or even officially substantiated, Shalli retired with full military privileges in January 2011.^[2]

Career

PLAN

Shalli joined SWAPO's military wing, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1971 in exile and eventually was trained as an anti-aircraft artillery battalion commander in the Soviet Union before eventually becoming a PLAN platoon commander, he was then appointed to Detachment commander. Shalli was then promoted to the position of Chief of Air Defence at the North Eastern front, afterwards he was made Chief of Staff of the North Eastern Front.^[3] By the end of the war he was the PLAN Chief of Operations.^[4]

NDF

When PLAN merged into the military structure to help create independent Namibia's military, the Namibia Defence Force, Shalli was given the position of Policy and Operations Director with the rank of Brigadier General.^[5] He was then promoted to major general and appointed NDF Chief of Staff in 1995 replacing Major General Charles Namholo. Between 2000 and 2005 he was the Army Commander with the rank of major general. He was then appointed in 2005 to 2006 as the Namibian High Commissioner to Zambia. In 2006 he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed to Chief of Defence Force, Namibian Defence Force. In 2009, Shalli was suspended from the NDF due to allegations of fraud. He allegedly had large amounts of money given to him by a company working in Namibia from the People's Republic of China from which the NDF bought equipment. Major General Peter Nambundunga was appointed to Act in position.^[1] Prior to his suspension, Shalli earned three medals for his service, the Order of Eagle 2nd Class, the Omugulugwombashe Medal, and the Cross for Bravery in Silver. Despite the allegations, Shalli retired with full military privileges in January 2011.^[2]

Honours and decorations

• Order of Eagle 2nd Class
• Omugulugwombashe Medal
• NDF Commendation Medal
• Namibian Cross for bravery (Gold) Medal
• Namibian Cross for bravery (Silver) Medal

Military offices
Preceded by Solomon Huwala	Chief of Defence Force 2006 – 24 January 2011	Succeeded by Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah
Preceded by Solomon Huwala	Commander Namibian Army 2000 – 2005	Succeeded by Peter Nambundunga
Preceded by Charles Namoloh	NDF Chief of Staff 1995 – 2000	Succeeded by Peter Nambundunga
Preceded by Vacant	Director Policy and Operations 1990 – 1995	Succeeded by Unknown

References

1. "Defence Chief Suspended", New Era, 23 July 2009. Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
2. Vries, Da'oud (21 January 2011). "General Martin Shalli retires with honours". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
3. "Shalli New NDF Chief".
4. "The Namibian".
5. Shalli New NDF Chief New Era, 23 October 2006