Namibia’s President, Hage Geingob has died on Sunday in a hospital in Windhoek at the age of 82, the presidential office said in a statement on X, posted by acting president Nangolo Mbumba.
Geingob was receiving treatment for cancer before his death.
“It is with utmost sadness and regret that I inform you that our beloved Dr Hage Geingob, the President of Namibia has passed on today,” Mbumba stated.
He said Geingob had as of 2013 undergone brain surgery, and in 2023 underwent an aortic operation in South Africa, adding that until his passing, he received treatment at Lady Pohamba Hospital in Windhoek.
“At this moment of deepest sorrow, I appeal to the nation to remain calm and collected while the Government attends to all necessary state arrangements, preparations and other protocols.”
He disclosed the Cabinet will convene to make the necessary state arrangements, adding Namibia lost a distinguished servant of the people, liberation struggle icon, chief architect of Namibia’s constitution and pillar of the Namibian house.
Geingob, born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941, was first elected president in 2014 and became Namibia’s longest serving prime minister and third president.
Geingob was the southern African country’s first president outside of the Ovambo ethnic group, which makes up more than half the country’s population.
He took up activism against South Africa’s apartheid regime which at the time ruled over Namibia, from his early schooling years before being driven into exile.
He spent almost three decades in Botswana and the United States.
TINUBU MOURNS
President Bola Tinubu on Sunday in Abuja condoled with the people and government of Namibia over the death of President Hage Geingob.
Geingob passed on, on Sunday at the age of 82 years while receiving treatment in a Windhoek hospital.
In a statement issued by Mr Ajuri Ngelale, his media aide, President Tinubu described Geingob as a veteran democrat and an advocate of African unity.
“He was a veteran in the struggle for democracy; a proponent of good governance, and an advocate of economic, social, and political solidarity among African peoples,’’ the Nigerian president observed.
He noted that Geingob’s death came at a time when Africa needed more visionary leaders who believed in the common destiny of the continent.
Tinubu also noted that Geingob strengthened bonds across borders and spread the tendrils of cooperation across all fields of human endeavour.
Geingob became Namibia’s founding prime minister when the country gained independence on March 21 1990 with Dr Sam Nujoma named as the founding president.
He served as prime minister between 1990 and 2002 and between 2012 and 2015, in addition to other key ministerial appointments and leadership roles.
He was elected as Namibia’s third president on March 21, 2015, and was re-elected for another five-year term in 2019.
Most recently, he supported South Africa’s complaint against Israel at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands.
South Africa had asked the court to declare that Israel was conducting genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Geingob also condemned Namibia’s former colonial ruler, Germany for rejecting the case.
