The first President of the Independent Republic of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, has died at the age of 95 in the capital Windhoek.
Nujoma’s death was announced on Sunday by current Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba, who said Nujoma died on Saturday night after being hospitalized for 3 weeks in the capital due to ill health.
The late Nujoma led the long fight for independence from South Africa in 1990 after helping found Namibia’s Liberation Movement known as the South West African Peoples’ Organisation (SWAPO) in the 1960s.
Sam Nujoma was born on the 12th of may 1929 in Southwest Africa, growing up in a rural family as the eldest of 11 children, he attended a mission school before moving to Windhoek and working for South African Railways.
Nujoma is revered in Southwestern Africa as a charismatic figure who helped steer democracy in Namibia and the region after a long period of colonial rule by Germany and a war of independence from South Africa’s apartheid control.
Nujoma was arrested in 1959 following a political protest and fled the territory after his release to go into exile in Tanzania where he spent nearly 30 years and established the South Western African peoples organisation (SWAPO) as the sole representative of the Namibian people at the United nations before returning for Parliamentary elections in late 1989 for the country’s first democratic vote.
After Namibia gained independence on the 21 of march 1990 , Sam Nujoma became President and led the country for 15 years until 2005 when he retired as head of state.
He continued leading the ruling South West Peoples’ Organisation Party (SWAPO) before stepping down in 2007 as the Party’s President after 47 years at the helm.
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Among his policies, Nujoma has been credited with national reconciliation by encouraging the country’s white community to remain after Namibia’s independence; championing women’s rights as well as developing the country’s economy through the farming, healthcare, and education sectors.
He further developed ties with the west
becoming the first African leader to be hosted at the White House by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1993. where Clinton described him as a genuine hero of the world’s movement toward democracy”.
African leaders have joined in paying tribute to Nujoma, with African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat describing him as “the epitome of courage, never wavering from his vision for a free Namibia and a unified Africa”.
Also, Namibia’s Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is due to be inaugurated as President in March after leading SWAPO to victory in elections, also called him a “visionary leader dedicated to liberation and nation-building.
Nujoma was part of a generation of African leaders who brought their countries out of colonial or white minority rule that included South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda, Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere and Mozambique’s Samora Machel.
(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
