Vekuii Rukoro inducted in hall of fame

ADVOCATE Vekuii Rukoro, FNB Namibia Holdings Group Chief Executive Officer, has joined the Namibian Hall of Fame of Junior Achievement Namibia. He joins eleven other laureates who have all underwent a string- ent selection criteria.

The Namibian Business Hall of Fame recognises laureates who have helped mould the Namibian enterprise system, and who continue to reshape and improve the manner in which businesses operate. Laureates are outstanding people who have worked tirelessly, and their enormous contributions are recognised when inducted into the Namibian Business Hall of Fame. Rukoro fits this description perfectly.

He was one of the drafters of the Namibian Constitution, who played a pivotal role in establishing the Namibian democracy. As Namibia’s former Attorney- General, he repeatedly ensured that state organs respected the supremacy of the rule of law, a principle he still defends in his current business life as banker. Rukoro frequently challenged the abuse of power and corrupt practices at the expense of the poor and vulnerable in society.

In this regard he is not afraid to demonstrate leadership beyond his narrow business calling and to speak out on behalf of the voiceless, downtrodden and oppressed – whether in Namibia or beyond our border. Asked how he regards the role he will play as laureate, the FNB Group Chief Executive Officer replied that he will try and influence the thought-pattern of the youth and get them to aspire and strive for top honours in life.

“I will try my utmost to be a role model for young people to prepare and inspire them to succeed in this globally competitive environment while at school and to pursue post secondary education,” Rukoro said. The Head of the FNB Group said that he will stand firm behind Junior Achievement Namibia and help them mobilise resources for young people to focus on entrepreneurship awareness, giving them all the tools to improve their financial literacy skills, and assist them to pursue further studies and be ready to enter the job market with the right credentials.

“This is what I have done as a young boy in those days. I was not fortunate like many young people are today. I hail from a poor family who lived from subsistence farming with no education at all. I grew up in a family that had no less than 13 children at any given time.”

Rukoro said that he was the first in his family to receive a Grade 12 certificate, the first to obtain a degree, the first to become a political activist, the first in his family to become a lawyer, the first minister, the first Managing Director of Sanlam and the first to head the financial service giant, the FNB Group as its CEO. “I was the first in everything for my family,” the FNB Group CEO said with pride. These credentials are on record for any Namibian child growing up in any part of the country.

"Irrespective of the conditions at home, it should serve as motivating factors for them to emulate what I and the other laureates achieved today. The youth should look at the vehicles laureates drive, the houses they live in, the schools their children attend and their standard of living. "All these are achievable and any Namibian child, black or white, can achieve them too,” he said.

However, these achievements ask for “hard work and commitment”, he emphasised. “It was not easy for me those days. I was borne and bred under the yoke of colonialism and educated under the Bantu education system,” Rukoro recalled.

He said: “Most laureates were the first cream of black executives to enter the private sector and we are under enormous pressure compared to the average white executives who don’t feel so much pressure. “As a laureate, I don’t represent myself; I represent our black race, because out there, I am seen as black and if I fail, it’s the black race that fail and that is the kind of pressure society exerts on us.”

Rukoro added that for black executives to succeed in today’s competitive industries, they have to work as twice as hard as white executives in similar positions. The FNB Group CEO said that he hope that in choosing the laureates, “the selection process should continue to be a strict one so that society respects people who joins the Namibian Business Hall of Fame.” He acknowledged what the Tswana-speaking people say in their language: "Motho ke motho ka batho", simply meaning one becomes someone in life and achieves awards through the help and assistance of others.

“I pay tribute to my colleagues in the FNB Group; I can never be a single individual when receiving these awards. I have colleagues in the FNB family who propelled me in walking on stage to be conferred with the prestigious Laureate award. "My colleagues in the management cadre of FNB and my staff, you are all the transmission belts of the strategic actions we have to carry out there.

These are the people I dedicate this laureate award of the Namibia Business Hall of Fame to,” the Group CEO of FNB Namibia Holdings said. Asked who nominated him for this award, he replied: “To be honest, I don’t know.” “I would like to express my sincere appreciation and profound vote of thanks to the 'unknown soldier' who proposed me as nominee of the laureate award. "I am greatly indebted to you, whoever you are, especially for the sterling motivation that convinced the Board of Junior Achievement Namibia in acknowledging me as nominee for the laureate award,” Rukoro said.

He added that he would not fail his nominator, the youth and the Namibian people at large and that we will live up to the oath he took when he was sworn in as laureate. Other laureates of previous years are Werner List, Harold Pupkewitz, Mathew Shikongo, John Akapandi Endjala, Tom Alweendo, Theofelus Mberirua, Sidney Martin, Dr Frans Aupa Indongo, Anne Thandeka Gebhardt, Gwen Lister, Martha Namundjebo-Tilahun, while Ben Hauwanga shared the stage with Rukoro when they were recently sworn in as new laureates for 2008.